Split Sky: Of Wand and Spirit
by inkedhymnal
Summary: Yusuke and the gang are summoned back to Hogwarts and immediatly run into trouble. For one thing they have trouble just getting to the school and second everyone starts having strange dreams. This is one year they won't soon forget! Chpt. 18 up
1. Owls and Windows Don't Mix

Okay, so, I lied. I like waited a day and I start the next book. Anyway, same rules apply as last time, and sadly, Jin and Touya cannot be with us this year, but I plan to have them make appearances. Also remember I hate Keiko, I hate Kuwabara, and I hate Hermoine to a certain degree.

And I am so happy to be back! I couldn't get all the plans out of my head so I said screw this and let's get going! I am so grateful to everyone who made the last one such a success. I really, really hope this one is just as good! 

**But now *pops in the song that goes "are you ready for this" from Space Jam – the place I heard it* ARE YOU READY FOR THIS? The second year has begun! **

Owls and Windows Don't Mix 

                The day was sunny and bright, with a cloudless sky and cool breeze blowing through the city as cheery blossoms wafted through the air, spreading joy and cheer. It had been like that all week, with couples holding hands and smiling and kissing and –

                "I hate this!" Yusuke screeched on the roof of his school. "Everything is to cheerful! What is with them?"

                "Oh, come on," Harry told the boy as he hovered on his broom. "It isn't that bad."  
                "You've lived in England your whole life," Yusuke pointed out. "And you don't have to go to cram school or sit through a lecture from your girlfriend about how loyal you need to be and how you need to go on more dates." Harry laughed and conceded the point.

                Harry had been living with Yusuke in Japan for a little more then three months now and the beginning of the school year was fast approaching, in England anyway. Over the course of those three months Yusuke, Hiei, and Kurama had made definite efforts to teach him to control his spirit energy and by now the boy could easily fire off red and gold version of a fireball mixed with Yusuke's shotgun. He had learned a few moves from Yusuke about the martial arts and several sword techniques from Hiei, who Harry spent a lot of his time with on weekdays since Kurama and Yusuke were stuck in school and Harry made a very large effort to avoid Kuwabara as much as possible. 

                He proved a help though. Yusuke's house was nearly spotless every week on Friday when he came home from school. Harry said he didn't like cleaning, but the way his mother managed to make it a pigsty whenever she got into a slump was simple horrendous! Harry had his broom and everything and he, Kurama, and Hiei would slip up to Genki's temple to fly it and have some fun for a bit (Hiei stayed mostly out of it and had tiny, tiny conversations with Genki, who was rather upset with them using her woods without her permission – she had made this quite clear with death threats the first few times).  

                Harry had gone mad with joy when Kurama had taken the boy down to the Shinjuku area of Tokyo to shop for new clothes. Harry had come home with many bags and new outfits from nearly every popular store (how Kurama afforded it Yusuke did not know, but he had sinking feeling that the Youko had had to much fun again). Today Harry had decked himself in some khaki colored shorts with red and black tennis shoes, a matching color vest with a long sleeved white shirt under that. He was sitting sidesaddle on his broom idly as Yusuke raged on and on about Keiko.

                "Why not just dump her then?" Harry finally interrupted Yusuke.

                Yusuke screeched to a halt and looked up at the boy, his face as innocent as ever. Yusuke sighed, "It's…it's not the simple."

                "Why?" Harry inquired. 

                "Well…well, you see, Keiko is rather sensitive about such subjects…and…," Yusuke stopped, but Harry did not press him further. The bell rang out on the school grounds and Harry waved a good bye and took flight into the air, disappearing above the clouds. 

                Yusuke shook his head, amazed at how that boy could manage to get to his school on that broom unseen. Harry explained he merely flew above the clouds so no one saw him, and if they did he seemed no bigger then a bird. Yusuke shook his head again and slipped back into the school, heading back for class since that was the lunch bell.

                "Alright, here are your test scores," snarled his teacher as he slapped the papers in his hand. Yusuke sank deeper in his chair. Curse Harry and Kurama and their lecturing him so much he now had a conscious about school!

                As the teacher lazily passed out the papers, Yusuke stared absently out the window, drumming his fingers as he envisioned the plans they had for that weekend in Spirit World. They were going to go see Touya and Jin! 

                "Be thankful this was on a curve Urameshi," snarled his teacher as he slapped a paper with a D on it before Yusuke. Yusuke shrugged it off and looked out the window.

                BANG.

                Yusuke reeled back and out of his chair in astonishment. Spread-eagled against the window was a rather large owl, a letter clutched in its beck. It detached itself and fluttered down to land on the sill and began to wrap the glass impatiently. It's eyes found Yusuke's and they glared reproachfully at him as he banged the glass.

                "What the heck is that?" demanded Yusuke's teacher. 

                Yusuke looked up and thought fast, "Um, uh, some kid on the grounds fired off a firecracker!" His teacher looked at him and then noticed he had reeled back in surprise and was out of his chair. Giving Yusuke a final, rather disbelieving, glance he stormed out of the classroom. Yusuke lunged for the window, several cracks having already formed where the bird had pecked repeatedly, and wrenched it open, snatched the letter from the owl, and closed the window again. The owl hooted indignantly, but flew off just the same.

                "What was that about, Urameshi?" Kuwabara asked in his drawling voice, reminding Yusuke unpleasantly of a stupider Malfoy. At least that blonde haired kid had smarts. 

                "Nothing you overgrown throw rug!" spat Yusuke as he stuffed the letter in his jacket. "No get out of my face!" Kuwabara shrugged and sat down and their teacher came back in.

                "Urameshi, detention!" shouted the teacher and Yusuke sighed. Why him? 

*~*~*~*~*

                "That…was interesting," Kurama said blankly as he sat in his room, looking down at the owl lying on his desk, breathing heavily and struggling to right itself even though it looked very drunk. Kurama's window, though, was very smashed. One hardheaded owl this one was. 

                The owl hooted meekly and Kurama extracted the letter attached to its leg, realizing at once what it was for. So, back to Hogwarts then, eh? Kurama petted the owl softly and placed a small Knut in its bag on the other leg. The owl was fully recovered by now and drunkenly flew out the window, even though he looked ready to take a chunk of the wall with it. Kurama sighed and pulled out his wand, waving it lazily at the window while saying the necessary spell word. 

                Kurama ripped open the letter at once and scanned the letter quickly. He chuckled. Dumbledoor, always clever and well prepared as ever! He slipped his hand inside and brought forth the necessary tickets to get to Hogwarts. Kurama smiled, wondering how Hiei, Harry, and Yusuke were handling their owls. 

*~*~*~*~*

                Hiei snatched Ookami from the air and wrapped the bird with one of his spare bandanas so it could not fly and attack the disgruntled owl now hovering above them, eyes blazing with indignation. He carelessly threw Ookami onto a soft bed of leaves by the branch beside him and let the owl find a perch a considerable distance from the overly protective raven. 

                Hiei reached out and took the letter. The owl hooted and Hiei cast it a rather dark glare and Ookami squawked something. Either the glare worked or Ookami had added something not to pleasant to it, for the owl hooted, this time in alarm, and sped off. Hiei undid Ookami and patted the bird before it settled atop his head again. 

                Hiei ripped open the letter, knowing full well whom it was from and sighed. Why? Why him? Did he really have to go? Of course he did. Kurama would plead with him to go and so would Harry (whom Hiei had grown rather fond of, but would never admit), and Yusuke would offer death threats…so what choice did he have?

                "Come on Ookami," Hiei sighed. "Let's see what Yusuke and the others have to say." 

*~*~*~*~*

                "What was that?" Mrs. Urameshi asked, sticking her head in the door to Harry's makeshift bedroom. "What the hell is that on the window?"

                "I believe it's a owl, Mrs. Urameshi," Harry said, not quite sure himself. He rapped the window and the owl splattered on it sprang backwards and looked down at Harry with a very offended manner. Hedwig, in her cage for the day, hooted with deep contempt etched in it at the interruption of her sleep. 

                "Owl? What do you mean owl? It's not from…," Mrs. Urameshi stopped, unable to recall the name of the place she was thinking of.

                "Hogwarts?" Harry asked and cringed another bang resounded. "Stupid owl. It can't get through this window."

                "Yes!" Mrs. Urameshi cried. "Yusuke won't be going back will he?" She was on the verge of tears, but Harry quickly ignored this and opened the window so the owl collided with the dresser and not the Plexiglas window. 

                Harry scrambled over to the owl and took the note. The owl swayed for a moment and Harry idly paid it a Knut before it sought to peck his hand as it had done the first time he received a note like this, and with a great huff like sound issued from its beak it took off. 

                "It's from Hogwarts alright," Harry said, scanning the note. "And I think Yusuke got one two. He only started as first year, after all." Mrs. Urameshi dashed from the room and Harry heard the definite sounds of what seemed like a mix of rage and sorrow all at once. He shrugged and went back to the letter. He never did get Mrs. Urameshi….

*~*~*~*~*

                Harry clapped as Yusuke sent Kuwabara head over heels into the wall of his apartment when Yusuke had dealt him a rather heavy right hook. The annoying man had followed Yusuke all the way home, intent on finding out what the letter was about. Yusuke graciously bowed as Harry clapped and before Mrs. Urameshi could come and scream at him (for she obviously knew what had happened by the sogginess of the pillows on the couch) the two flew out the door and down the steps towards Kurama's house. 

                Hiei was already there, stationed on the bed with a dark look on his face. Yusuke knew what it was for, "Oh, come on now Hiei. Won't it be fun? You can torture Peeves again." The comment seemed to both darken and brighten Hiei's mood. Ookami squawked ominously and flew to sit on Kurama's head while Shinrai scooted a few more feet from Hiei and took a seat on Yusuke's shoulder.

                "But, anyway, they say we need to be at the airport two weeks from now from tomorrow," Kurama said, making a note. "Everyone coming?" 

                "Oh, you'd miss school again?" Yusuke grinned devilishly at Kurama.

                "I think I can manage," Kurama growled with a false smile. 

                "I know I'm going!" Harry said. "I can't wait see Hermoine and Ron again!" The other three nodded (more about Ron then Hermoine).

                "Great! So it's settled!" Kurama said happily. "I'll call you once I have the transportation lined up and everything." The three nodded and descended the stairs followed by Kurama and his cat, whose name had been shortened to Ko, since his mother often forgot the rest of it. They sped out the door with hurried good byes and made for their favorite restaurant, already imagining the things they would do at Hogwarts that year.

*~*~*~*~*~*

                The room was dark, save for the light emitted by the seven beings within the room. Together they stood around a glowing orb of earth, watching the four sit and eat their dinner, laughing and reminiscing. A female turned away, disgusted.

                "These are supposed to be the hope of the universe?" she spat.

                "You have seen his power," said the eldest among them (who looked no more then twenty-five). "He will serve us well."

                "And what of the others?" said another female in an icy voice. "The one with my amulet is in prison in the spirit world!" 

                "You can find another," said a second male calmly.

                "Can I?" spat the icy female. "Who have you summoned now? Which of those pathetic humans shall take Touya's place?"

                "Human?" repeated a third male. "No, no, that would not do. Only a demon should be under your favor."

                "Glad you see it my way," the icy female said coldly. 

                "That is far from the point," said a dark female on the other side of the eldest male. "What matters is that we know where their allegiance lies."

                "Did we not prove that already with the test of the Masters?" asked a rather dark male next to the dark female.

                The dark female bristled, "Hardly! Those incompetent fools did not follow orders! They sealed their own fates!" 

                "What of the one named Voldermort, then?" asked the second male. "What is his purpose?"

                "That remains to be seen," sneered the first female, casting dark glances from the eldest male to the eldest female, the dark one.

                "Never you mind," snapped the eldest male. "For now, be content with your own instructions." With that final note he faded. The other six looked at one another and followed suite and the light in the replica of the earth blew out.

*~*~*~*~*

Wheee! First chapter and already a partial cliffie! I am as evil as ever!  
  


Yusuke: Is that a good thing?  
  


Shut up. Anyway, hope you all will enjoy this fic as much as the first! See you all in the next chapter!

~Kyen


	2. An Elf of a Different Size

**Hey! All right, chapter two! Um, well, I will try and make this follow the book as best I can to a degree, since this sequel with flow more with the book then the last, but just the same. Anyway, I know I yap a lot already, so I'll shut up now and let you read. **

**I'm sorry I haven't updates in a bit, but I have had trouble accessing ff.net so I was unable to update. Also, this time I am serious, somewhere from the week of July 17, I think, to the end of the month, I will be gone on vacation again, but guess what? This time I have a computer! Yes, great, but, um, updates will be slow while I am there, so please, be patient with me! Thank you so much, and now, read on.**

**And by the way, for those of you wanting a pairing….I AM SORRY, I CANNOT DO THAT! I TOLD YOU THIS IN THE LAST ONE! It's a *cough* family thing, sorry. But you people can deal with it, you know I explained this in the last one, so why now? And I never promised a pairing, at least not in this series.**

**And this might be a little short, so please, bare with me!**

An Elf of a Different Size 

                The four boys sipped tea at the small café, blissfully unaware of a lurking presence watching them not three tables away – Kuwabara. Kuwabara, unfortunately, was not as stupid as Yusuke thought him to be, and he knew that the BANG sound earlier in the classroom had not been a firecracker, and he had not imagined several other owls flying over the city after school either. No, it was too much of a coincidence. Those owls belonged to Hogwarts, or whatever that wizard school was called. Quietly, he sipped his tea and waited for them to say more.

*~*~*~*~*

                "Yeah, but, anyway, when do we leave for the airport?" Yusuke asked, turning to Kurama. "And how did your mother take it?"

                Kurama sighed, "On the note about my mother…she doesn't know. She was furious when I came back home and looked ready to kill me, so how do you think she's react to me going back? And as for when we leave? Well, they say August twenty-ninth and the term starts September first."

                "That gives us around two days to shop," Yusuke sniffed. "I think we can fit it all in, don't you?"

                "I suppose," Harry said as he reread his list of things. "I mean, we can get by on our old robes and stuff, and all we really need are new books and cauldrons really."

                "Did you notice all our books are by this Gilderoy Lockhart guy?" Hiei spoke up as he reread his own list. 

                "Yeah," Kurama said as he scanned it. "Strange. Normally there is at least a different author for each class, but everything is by him except for the _Standard Book of Spells_." 

                "Do not tell me he will be teaching," Yusuke yawned. "To be he sounds like some puffed up, over rated loser super-star."

                "Now, Yusuke, don't judge a book by it's cover," Kurama warned him.

                "I'm not," Yusuke insisted. "I'm judging it by a piece of a paper." Kurama sighed and sipped his tea, giving up. Yusuke smiled, knowing he had won.

*~*~*~*~*

                Kuwabara, as stupid as he looked and sounded, had a plan. Why not follow them to this Hogwarts place? How bad could it be? And more importantly, why did they get to go and he didn't? 

*~*~*~*~*

                "Your mother freaked out when she heard, didn't she?" Yusuke asked that night when Kurama called him up on the phone.

                "God, I thought she would literally take my head off!" Kurama cried. "That woman is scary when she's upset."

                "Well, I would be too. I mean, by precious, perfect, normal little boy is going to a school for weirdoes," Yusuke snickered.

                "Oh shut up! This is worse from when she found out I controlled plants," Kurama screamed at him, near panic.

                Yusuke held the phone away as Kurama vented his anger and when he was sure he was done, brought it back to his ear, "Kurama?"

                "Yes, Yusuke?" Kurama asked sweetly – to sweetly. Yusuke sighed.

                "Kurama, would you like to spend the night?" Yusuke asked.

                "Thank you, thank you!" Kurama cried with joy. "Yes, now I have a reason to leave the house!" Yusuke could hear rapid shuffling in the background. "I'll be there in ten, okay?" 

                "And Kurama," Yusuke called before the boy hung up.

                "What?" Kurama asked him, somewhat annoyed.

                "Leave a note," Yusuke said sweetly and hung up.

                "What was that about?" Harry asked him when he set the phone down.

                "Kurama's spending the night," Yusuke announced. Harry shook his head, having heard the whole screaming thing on Kurama's part. 

                Harry yawned and stretched, looking up from his summer homework to the window, where his broom sat. He yawned again and flopped down backwards on the bed, sprawled out and rubbing his eyes, "Man, why'd Snape give us so much homework?"

                "Because he hates us?" Yusuke asked.

                "That could be it," Harry mused.

                "It was a rhetorical question," Yusuke explained, throwing away his own quill (yes, Yusuke has done him homework! Oh my…0_o).  Both boys flew off their beds onto the floor when a loud snap sounded in the room. "Okay, what the hell was that?" 

                "Oh, sorry to scare you, Sirs," a meek voice said and out of the shadows stepped a rather ugly looking creature, with bulbous eyes and floppy ears like a dog. A pointed nose crowned its face and it was dressed in a…gunny sack? 

                "Who…what the hell are you?" Yusuke sputtered, staring at the small thing, which was maybe less then two feet tall. 

                "I am Dobby the house elf, Sirs," the thing said and bowed.

                "Elf? Elf?" Yusuke repeated. "You can't be an elf!" 

                "But Dobby is Sirs!" Dobby cried.

                "Why can't he be an elf?" Harry asked.

                "Elves are taller!" Yusuke exclaimed. "Hello! This thing is like two feet tall! Most elves top at least five foot five!" 

                Harry thought over this, "Yes, you're right."

                "Harry Potter must not go back to Hogwarts this year!" the elf screeched. With that pronouncement he lunged for Yusuke's dresser and began to bang his head. 

                "Hey! Hey! That's mahogany wood! Don't damage that!" Yusuke screeched and pried the ugly thing off. He passed him to Harry, who grabbed the elf and held him tight, looking down in curiosity. 

                "Now, why can't I go back?" Harry asked him.

                Dobby looked up, "Oh, Harry cannot go back! There is much danger there!" Dobby looked around and finally opted to bang his head on Harry's arm.

                "Hey!" Harry cried and threw the elf across the room. "Dude, calm down."

                "Thank you Sir," the elf said, getting up. "Dobby needed that. But Dobby cannot let Harry go back to Hogwarts!" 

                "Why not?" Harry repeated. 

                Dobby lunged for a lamp this time. Harry missed, but Yusuke caught him and roughly slammed him to the floor and placed his foot on him. "Stop! Want to tell us why you can't tell us?"

                "Oh, Dobby's masters not like that Dobby tell Harry of danger," Dobby said. 

                "Alright, the third person thing is annoying!" Yusuke cried. He got off Dobby and sat next to Harry, staring at the elf. There was a shuffling outside along with the creak of a door, a hello and the muffled voices of others.

                "Dobby must go!" the elf cried. "Remember, Harry must not go back!" With that he snapped his fingers and was gone with a POP.

                "Wait!" they both cried together and lunged. They ended up in a heap on the ground with a very puzzled Kurama staring down at them.

*~*~*~*~*~*

                "This is insane!" cried one of the females of the group. "We're going to just let this Voldemort get away with this? Or have you not noticed his target happens to be the only person who has enough power to be my vessel?"

                "Calm thyself, Sheque," said the cool voice of the eldest woman. "You know well enough we cannot interfere by our own laws." 

                "But she has a point, Lady Dreali," a young male said. "If he gets to Harry, then what of the others? What will become of them?" 

                "If Voldemort goes through with this then we cannot manifest ourselves!" spat the last female. "And you are going to let this all pass by? Lord Firion, surely you think this unjust as well!"

                Firion looked at the assembled people carefully, "By our own laws, we cannot interfere."

                "No! No, we must interfere!" screamed another male. "We did not interfere last time and both the strongest vessel nearly got themselves killed!" 

                "But they are alive, yes, Fisron?" Dreali asked him calmly, staring at the younger male shrewdly. 

                "Yes, they are alive," the male, Fisron, conceded the point.

                "Then do as we say," Firion said sagely. "For now, all we can do is wait."

                "Wait for what?" the first female asked.

                "For them to make their decision," Dreali said coolly. The others remained silent and continued to stare at the glowing orb where they viewed the world below.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

                Voldemort sat before the fire, stroking the head of his pet snake, musing over the events of the last year. How could he have lost to a child? How could those masters loose to some punk from the streets? It did not make sense!

                "Nothing really makes sense, does it?" a cool voice asked him.

                The weakened Voldemort did not even bother to turn his head to see who spoke, for she appeared before him with a thought. "Hello…Cormahs."

                "How is my little Voldemort today?" the girl cooed icily, her eyes narrow as she viewed the frail man in the chair, stroking the snake. 

                "Do not call me that!" Voldemort hissed. 

                "You really can't argue," Cormahs hissed. "After all, I am the only thing standing between you and death, for now. Remember, I am the one keeping you alive."

                "But why? Why would a goddess take interest in me?" Voldemort demanded.

                "Must we go through that again?" Cormahs asked. "Honestly, you mortals forget so easily!"

                "Tell me again," Voldemort demanded.

                "Oh, alright!" Cormahs said and came to whisper in his ear. "I take interest in you, because if you win, I win."

                "And what happens when I win?" Voldemort pressed.

                Cormahs laughed wickedly, "If you win, you will rule the wizard world as a god." Voldemort's lips broke into a smile as Cormahs began to laugh, her voice ringing through the night, making the birds take flight, for her laugh, was the laugh of a goddess gone mad. 

*~*~*~*~*~*

Plot thickening! BWHAHAHAHAHA! *cough* Anyway, moving on. Hope to see you in the next chapter. Again, this took so long for two reasons 1) I had writer's block and 2) I couldn't access ff.net. Since I am forgiven, shall we move on? Yes, we shall. Till next time (Now known as TNT)-

Kyen

****


	3. Early Flight

Sorry it has taken me so long to update, but I have had bad spells of writer's block right now and my computer has been taken for a good deal of time right now, so I have limited access. Please forgive me! Anyway, on with the chapter.

**AND FOR THE LAST TIME I CAN'T DO A PAIRING SO JUST STOP IT WILL YOU?! I LIKE PAIRINGS AND ALL, BUT I JUST CAN'T ALRIGHT?! I DON'T NEED TO EXPLAIN SO GET OFF MY BACK!**

**Yusuke: 0_o Wow.**

**Right, sorry, but, please stop bugging me about it! I said I can't and that's that! Read on. And I am going on vacation tomorrow, but I have a computer, so updates should come for the nearly two weeks I'm gone. They might be slow, but they shall come! I will have at least one done if it is the last thing I do!**

**(Note: Working under recently relieved case of writer's block, so, hehehe…bear with me)**

Early Flight 

                "Wow, Kurama, thanks!" Harry cried as he fingered the soft leather jacket that had been wrapped in a package Kurama had presented to him.

                "No problem Harry," Kurama smiled. "I know it's a little late, but happy birthday!" 

                "Birthday?" Yusuke repeated. "It's…it was his birthday?"  
                "Yes," Kurama smiled. 

                "How did you find this out? He never told me anything!" Yusuke pouted.

                "Oh, Hiei told me," Kurama smiled. "You know how much time these two spend together during the school hours."

                "He only told you because you're a demon too," Yusuke snorted.

                "So are you," Kurama pointed out.

                "Half, thank you," Yusuke snapped. "And Hiei hates me, we all know that." Kurama just shook his head and went to help Harry try on the jacket.

                Harry looked at the cage that was situated near the window and his happy face fell a little, "Hedwig isn't back yet. It's been three weeks."

                "It takes a good deal of time for an owl to fly to England and back to Tokyo," Kurama assured Harry, patting him on the shoulder. "Besides, if we leave before she comes back she'll come straight to Hogwarts. Hedwig's a smart owl, she'll figure it out."

                "I guess you're right," Harry sighed.

                "Wouldn't surprised if she was halfway down Hiei's throat right now," Yusuke muttered.

                "Yusuke!" Kurama shouted and roughly smacked him.

                "What was that for?" Yusuke demanded, rubbing his head. Kurama just fumed as he unloaded his stuff.

                Harry shook his head, wondering how her survived a year, much less a summer, in a house where a half demon lived and he invited full demons to spend the night (even when one of them never asked, just did).  Through the rest of the night Yusuke and Harry gathered around Kurama asking him for help on the homework and once that was done they made plans for what to do when they got to England. Changing their money was a must, and they weren't sure if they needed new robes or not, and then there were their books (Yusuke relished what he would get to do to Hiei to get him to come along) and finally just getting to Hogwarts.

                Exhausted and in desperate need of sleep, the three collapsed into bed (Kurama's being a sleeping bag) and fell asleep, not overly worried about the new school year.

*~*~*~*~*~*

                Cormahs viewed the peaceful scene of Yusuke, Harry, and Kurama sleeping with distaste. This was so boring! And taking way to long! Cormahs knew Voldemort, if he had been at full health, would have gone after the boy, but then he would have meant problems. Cormahs also knew why Voldemort never attacked the child when he was at those mortals place in England.

                That accursed human teacher called Dumbledore, wasn't it? She shook her head. Who cared about his name. All that mattered was that he had foiled one of her plans again, more rather Voldemort's then hers, but it was close enough. The only reason Harry could even work magic in Japan was due to the fact that annoying half demon Yusuke had taught him to harness Spirit Magic! Cormahs, being a goddess, did not harness nor use Spirit Magic, therefore it was impossible to teach Voldemort, and if he didn't know how to use it, then his wand magic would be useless in Japan and the orient.

                Cormahs frowned. Let them sleep. They wouldn't be safe for long. Just because Voldemort couldn't attack, didn't mean she couldn't. 

*~*~*~*~*~*

                Kuwabara jumped as he felt a chilling shiver pass up his spine. It wasn't cold, so why did it feel like that. He swung around as he heard a trash can fall. Looking around he sighed and made his way on. Suddenly, a jarring pain gripped his neck and blackness enveloped him, and he crashed to the ground. 

                The shadow that had taken him down sank its claws into his forehead and remained that way for several minutes. With a wicked grin it slunk off in the direction of Yusuke's apartment. 

*~*~*~*~*~*

                Hiei jolted awake in his tree. He ripped off the bandana across his Jagan eye and focused. There. A shadow was slinking closer to Yusuke's house, and it wasn't there for a friendly visit either. Hiei drew his sword, and Ookami, has he had learned to do, took the skies, searching for the threat to give Hiei directions, since his Jagan couldn't do that, at least not while Hiei had to concentrate on other things. Together, bird and demon set off after the shadow.

*~*~*~*~*~*

                "What was that?" Harry hissed. All three boys were awake now, a scratching sound having woken them up. They were all alert, muscles tense, ready for anything. Harry pulled out his wand, but Kurama shook his head and Harry put it back. He had almost forgotten that little rule about using magic. 

                Yusuke rose from his bed and slunk to the window, clicking it open and letting it swing wide. Kurama silently got up from his sleeping bag and position himself to the side of Harry, rose in hand. Yusuke clenched his fist and Harry could see his chest muscles tense and the faint, so very faint, outline of markings appear on his face, arms, and chest. Harry slid out of his own bed and took a position in a corner. He found his fought better with his fist in that kind of position, since adrenaline came easier to him when he was cornered. 

                Yusuke's eyes widened and he swung around into the room, searching. Kurama held tighter to his rose and it lengthened to become the rose whip. Harry balled his hands into fist and waited patiently, searching as well. 

                All three jumped when Ookami flew into the room and made a beeline for the light switch. Shinrai had gone with Hedwig, so Yusuke had babysat Ookami for a bit and taught the bird to turn on the light. The bird was doing so now. The lights flared on and the boys winced, only to widen their eyes again when they saw a shadow tear itself from the wall. 

                Yusuke growled and his fist began to glow with his energy. Harry had learned to send out his energy in a more defensive manner and summoned up a rather weak shield, but it was good enough for now. Kurama stood from his crouch and attacked first.

                Swinging his whip in a wide arch the shadow easily avoided it and sank into the wall. Kurama following it, leaving a long, jagged line across the ceiling. Yusuke let it go, knowing what it was for. The shadow continued over the ceiling and Kurama followed it for the first circuit then broke off and began to make something like a pattern with his whip, but this, at the same time, kept the shadow occupied, so it was constantly moving to avoid Kurama's whip. Finally, it found itself at the center of the room, and a spider web like pattern surrounding it.

                Yusuke grinned and jumped up, slamming his palm onto one of the tendrils Kurama had carved and sent his energy out. It spread through the spider tendrils like fire and the shadow found itself encircled now by raging blue spirit energy. The shadow unlatched itself from the ceiling and made for the floor, but Yusuke was faster. Manipulating the energy again, Yusuke sent the same pattern down to connect with the floor, caging the shadow in. 

                By now Hiei had arrived, but stood back, knowing what was going to happen next. Yusuke sent another silent command to the energy and Harry sent out his energy shield to encompass Kurama and Hiei. With that silent command, the energy collapsed in on itself and the shadow became entrapped. It didn't scream, just glared at Yusuke before the energy collapsed enough to fully encompass it and a shockwave rocked the apartment building before the ball faded into nothing, the shadow with it. All in all, the room looked as it a tornado had passed through it and the ceiling was in need to desperate repair – scarred and charred as it was. 

                "That was interesting," Hiei muttered, sheathing his blade as Ookami took his spot on his head. "What the heck was that thing?"

                "You expect me to know?" Yusuke demanded. "I just killed it, that's all."

                "I must say, that was one of the best versions of that certain attack we've done as of late,"  Kurama admitted as Harry let down the shield. "And that was a nice shield you did Harry. You've gotten better since the beginning of the summer."

                "Right, but, Yusuke," Harry said, looking at the older boy, "what does this mean?"

                "Uh, someone wants to kill us?" Yusuke took a wild guess.

                "So, should we leave?" Harry asked uncertainly. "What if it goes for someone else next? Like your mom or Kuwabara….wait, no, it can have Kuwabara."

                "Good boy!" Hiei congratulated Harry. He had Kuwabara and so Harry had learned to hate him as well. Hiei was rather proud that a little pieces of his own hatred had been passed to another. 

                Yusuke nodded, "Kurama, how long do you think it'd take to get to England if we all flew?" 

                "Can we even fly?" Kurama demanded. 

                "Okay, Harry can fly, so how long would it take Harry?" Yusuke asked him.

                Kurama shrugged, "Depending on how fast it could take at least a week, with his trunk and all packed with it."

                "And with us going through Spirit World?" Yusuke demanded.

                Kurama calculated again, "Probably about five days, if Koenma helps us."

                "Right then," Yusuke declared. "Get your things ready. It's off to spirit world!"

                "Why?" they all demanded at once.

                "Why?" Yusuke repeated. "To get to the England of course. I'm not staying here so some shadow thingy can attack my mother!" They all nodded and went to get their things. They agreed to meet in an alley about three blocks from there in one hour and so, their flight began. 

*~*~*~*~*~*

                "Risky move, Sheque," Cormahs hissed. "But then again, perhaps I have underestimated these brats. The Wand Magic boy defeated Voldemort, so what can a demon lord and two demons do, eh?" 

                "Cormahs!" Voldemort rasped from his chair.

                "What?" Cormahs asked idly, not really paying attention.

                "The boy…Potter…if he goes back to England…my death eaters can get him," Voldemort wheezed.

                "No! Not with those three guarding him!" Cormahs snapped. "Or have you forgotten that Spirit Magic holds the advantage over Wand Magic? Honestly!" Voldemort said nothing more and Cormahs returned to her own contemplation. 

                The brats had defeated the shadow, a second level denizen that most brats their age would have lost two in less then a minute. She had seriously rethink her plans of attack now. 

*~*~*~*~*~*

                "Are you happy now?" Firion demanded of Sheque. "They are on the move."

                "Yes, I know," Sheque said. "That was the point."

                "But you have moved them into more danger," Dreali said, appearing beside Firion, cornering the younger goddess.

                Sheque gulped. "More danger?"

                Dreali nodded, "Now, they have a much greater threat to worry about. Cormahs is watching now."

                "Cormahs?" Sheque cried. "What would she want in this?"

                "You should know," Dreali said simply. "She was your sister, was she not?" 

                Sheque hung her head, "What have I done?" Firion and Dreali did not answer the question, merely disappeared, letting Sheque stew in her own despair. 

*~*~*~*~*~*

And again the plot thickens! Anyway, as I said I think I can update during vacation, so, please continue to watch out for me and R&R, k? See ya!

P.S. If anyone has a good site where I can get some good Gravitation songs (if you have ever heard of it) please give me the address! I need more!

-Kyen 

~_^ Love ya'll!


	4. Suprise at the Burrow

Ha! Guess what? I can update while on vacation! (If my internet connection agrees *grrrr*) Anyway! Glad you all could make it to see the second edition of the series and read the fourth chapter. I guess I should stop stalling and get on with this. Anyway! Updates will be slow until July 27th, so please be patient. Thank you all for understand and now,I take my leave. Read on!   
  
  
  
  
  


Suprise for the Weasleys   
  


No matter how much Yusuke, Kurama, and Hiei had talked about Spirit World, nothing they said could have prepared Harry for what he saw. Even though they had said they would take him for visits to see Jin and Touya, Harry had never been outside the area of their prison and prison cells. Never had he imagined that the spirit world would be so big. 

In truth, it was more like a wasteland, a desert, with a river running through it framed by moutains to the north, forest to the west and a meadow plain to the east. Clouds rolled acorss the sky, casting shadows over the desert and Harry could have sworn that under every shadow something was moving, trying to stay beneath the shadow to avoid being burnt to a crisp. 

"You never said it would be this big!" Harry gasped as he took it all in. 

"Yeah, well, what did you expect it to be? A small little world beneath the earth ruled by a guy with flaming hair?" Yusuke asked him, swinging his knapsack over his shoulder, Shinrai settling on the other as Ookami and Hedwig circled above them. 

"Well, that was what I always envisioned it as," Harry gulped. He looked around, noting that something didn't feel right. "Uh, where are our trunks?" 

"Koenma is taking care of it," Kurama smiled. "Botan and a couple other demons are going to help us haul them to England." 

"How long will it take?" Harry asked, suddenly not seeing how Kurama's estimation of two or three days was entirely possible. 

Shinrai screeched loudly and took flight, circling with Ookami and Hedwig a little bit over to their left. Harry followed Shinrai's path with his eyes and saw, to his suprise, a young woman in a pink kimono and blue hair riding on something that looked like an oar paddle glided towards them. 

"Hey Botan," Yusuke called to her, waving. Shinrai and Ookami screeched their own hellos while Hedwig flew back to Harry, eyeing the newcomer warily. 

"Oh, you must be Harry!" Botan cried happily, bouncing off her oar. Harry nodded mutely when he saw what came behind her. It was a pack of at least three huge dogs, colored the same as zebra, with large horns sticking out of their heads. Their golden eyes gleamed intelligently as they viewed the party. Botan smiled and clapped her hands, "Introductions! Everyone, this is Crisio's pack. The first one of Crisio and then the other two are Sanddune and Sandrunner." 

"How do you do?" Yusuke said, waving. He had meant dogs like these before. There were several types, each one suited for a different terrain. These were the Anubis - SandDogs. 

Crisio nodded and padded up to Yusuke, dropping to his belly, "Be warned, I am only doing this as an owed favor to you for saving this world from the Netherrealm and nothing more. Do not push your luck nor your favor with us." 

"Of course," Yusuke said and hopped on, grabbing a fistful of mane as the dog rose to keep his balance. Kurama did something similiar, mounting Sanndune, while Hiei looked at them with contempt. Sandrunner made no attemtp to let Hiei on his back. 

"Is Harry not rididng?" Botan asked. 

"Harry can fly," Yusuke told her and leaned back, grabbing the broom that was tied down to trunk and pulling, hard. The broom slippped out and he threw it to Harry, who caught it and mounted eagerly. 

"Right, well, off with you," Botan smiled. Yusuke nodded and made a whistling sound. Shinrai flew down and took his place on Yusuke's shoulder, while Ookami voted for Hiei's head. Hedwig voted for Kurama, not all that excited about the other option, which was to ride with Harry on his firebolt. Kurama looked back and made sure his cat, Korounue (I know I butchered that, but I'll fix it as soon as my internet is behaving). 

With a final wave the three dogs launched themselves foreward off the sand dune they were on, followed closely by Hiei and Harry. At break neck speed they raced across the desert, sending up a sand storm behind them as they ran.   
  


*~*~*~*~*~*   
  


"We're almos there," called Sijon, leader of the three Remus they now road. Remus where forest dogs, fit to live in the jungle, barely noticable due to their brown and green coloring. 

For two days they had run acorss the desert, stopping only at night to eat and rest, breaking at dawn and starting up again. Ciriso and his boys had roughly thrown them off at the edge of the forest and turned tail, galloping away and fading into nothing in a matter of minutes. There they had meant their second arrangement for transportation - Sijon, Forester, and Viney.The Remus were more eager to help, but for the same reason as the Anubis. And this time Harry rode, seeing as navigating with his Nimbus would be a little difficult in such terrain. Hiei still refused the offer to ride, though none was ever offered him. 

It was their second day running through the forest, not as fast as the desert, but that was to be expected. "Good," called Yusuke. "Just drop us off at the portal and we'll be happy." 

"We'll drop you off about a quarter of a mile from it," Sijon announced. "It's at the base of a mountain, but our forest ends just before it. You're on your own once we reach the edge." 

"Thank for all your help, just the same," Kurama said. Sijon nodded and his dogs sped on, crashing through the flora and underbrush easily, as if it were air and not something physical. 

The Remus were true to their word and vanished back into the woods, leaving all their trunks and such with them, about a qaurter mile from the base of the mountain. Harry sighed and took the rope, typing his trunk tohis broom and mounting it while the other three demons grabbed theirs and held them on their backs. 

As the sun beat down on them they trudged up the grassy slant of a meadow, the three demons easily following the slight energy reading that came from the portal. Before they were half way there all three had stripped off their shirts. Each had forgotten that the Spirit World was slightly warmer during the day then the Human World, exspecially on a mountain side near something that bordered on tropical rain forest. Harry was dripping in a puddle of his sweat by the time they had scaled the base, dropping gratefully to the ground, basking before the cool air the portal sent off, except, the portal wasn't there.   
  


"Yusuke, where is it?" Harry asked. He began to wonder if the Remus had dropped them off in the wrong place, or if they had given them a correct estimant of where the portal lay, seeing as they didn't seem to keen on leaving their woods. 

Yusuke panted for a second before feeling his way along the cliff's face, his fingers gropping and pushing against the rock. Kurama came and help as well, Hiei standing back, fishing for a water skin he thought he had brought along. Harry watched, leaning against his trunk, as the two boys felt along the face. When they did find it, Harry jumped back in alarm. 

"Well, I'm guessing that's it," Yusuke sighed, looking at the half of Kurama's arm that had slipped through the rocks face. 

"I'll agree with you there," Kurama said and pulled his arm back, sticking his head in instead. He stayed there for several seconds and then came back out. "We're just outside a large house in a garden." 

"And?" Yusuke promted. 

"Luckily it is a wizard's house," Kurama said. "That is, if the talking gnome is any indication that it is. That and the fact that I see dishes washing themselves in the window." 

They all agreed it was safe to go through it and grabbed their things. Together, Yusuke and Kurama hurled them through, one by one and then went through themselves. They popped up outside, as Kurama had said, a large rickety house that seemed ready to topple, and yet very sturdy all at once. Indeed, they all saw the gnome Kurama had talked off dive into a bush, blinking at them from between the flowers and leaves. Dishes were washing themselves, soap bubbles occasionally popping against the glass. 

"Well, I guess we should get out of here, yes?" Harry asked. "I mean, find an inn or something." 

"Good idea," Hiei agreed. "Problem though. We all still have yen, not pounds. How can we pay for it?" 

They all thought for a sec, but their thinking session was interupted by a rather loud scream. They turned to see a young, red headed girl staring at them from the open door, her face splattered with freckles and mouth open wide, same as her eyes. 

"Mother! Mother, come quick!" she screeched. All of them blanched when she said that and looked around disparingly for some place to hide. 

"What is it Ginny?" asked a woman with hair as red as the girl's, her face splattered with the same freckles, dressed in an apron and moping her hands.The girl pointed and the woman looked up.The four froze, not to sure what to do. Her eyes skimmed over them and came to rest on Harry, lighting up when she saw him. "Harry! Darling, how on earth did you get here?" 

"Mrs. Weasley?" Harry asked, his voice flooded over with releif. 

"Mrs. Weasley?" Yusuke, Hiei, and Kurama echoed. "Ron's mother?" 

"Yep!" Harry said happily, his face alight now that he knew who he was speaking too. 

"Ron!" screamed Mrs. Weasley. "Ron, Harry's here, and he brought some friends!" The word friends was not said as happily as the name Harry, but that might have something to do with the fact they were naked from the waist up; except Kurama becuase he had to think of his decency first, not sure who would be watching when they came through, and Harry, who had never taken his off in the first place, but merely undone all the buttons so it hung open, revealing a well built chest obtained from Hiei's rather demanding training and/or brutal underminding. 

There was a crash from within and they heard repeated thumpings as someone charged down the stairs and then there was Ron, face bright and tinged red from his sprint as he took in the scene. "Harry! Yusuke! Hiei! Kurama!" He flung himself out at them and Harry caught the boy in a hug, shoving him off when he began to run out of breathe. "When did you get here? How did you get here? Oh, never mind! How have you been?" 

"Can we have some water?" Yusuke asked. "We're parched." Ron nodded and they grabbed their things, none of them trusting the greedy glare they saw the gnome give them. 

Ron passed out the glasses and poured water for them. They gratefully sank into the kitchen chairs Mrs. Weasley had pulled up for them and gulped their glasses down, leaving nothing in them excpet a few crystaline droplets. As they drank, they could all notice that Ginny seemed transfixed by two people - Harry and Kurama. All of them had a good reason why, but none voice their opinions as they took in the room. 

It was a regular kitchen, if you discounted the dishes that were still cleaning themselves, the pot of soup that was stirring itself and the garbage that was throwing itself out. The table was was large enough and for nine, but set for seven and Mrs. Weasley was busy helping the pots cooks themselves and glancing at the clock. The clock was fascininating, seeing as it held not numbers and not two hands - but nine hands and words. Each hand was labled with a name, all of whom they could match faces with except Charlie and another one that read Bill. Each hand pointed to a word - Ginny, George, Fred, Ron, Mrs. Weasley, and Percy all pointed to the word 'home', while Mr. Weasley pointed to the word 'work' and Bill and Charlie pointed to the word 'out of town'. Several other words were 'school' and 'hospital' and 'mortal danger'. 

"Nice clock," Yusuke commented politley. 

"Oh, yes, very handy," Mrs.Weasley said, turing to smile at him. "Now, Ron, why don't you show them to their rooms?" 

"K," Ron said and stood up from the table. 

"Wait!" Ginny called to Ron, grabbing his sleeve. "The red-head can sleep him my room. I'm sure she doesn't want to sleep with a bunch of boys. It's improper too." 

"Girl?" they all repeated, staring at Kurama. Yusuke and Harry burst into laughter, clucthing their stomachs as tears rolled down their faces. Ron looke ready to laugh too and Hiei seemed tobe trying to distance himself from the lunacy of it all. Kurama, however, had a look of mixed emotions - astonishment, embarassment, and annoyance. 

"Well, it is," Ginny said, though with little conviction. She turned to her mother, "Mother, it is improper for girls to sleep in boy's rooms, right?" Kurama coughed and caught Ginny's attention, hands going up to his button on shirt and flicking open the first one. Ginny's eyes went wide, "No! Don't take off your shirt! That is definatley not proper!" 

But Kurama ignored her and he protests died away when he shrugged off the shirt, revealing a man's chest, well muscled and built. Ginny blushed a very bright red. Kurama made something like a strained laughter sound, "Trust me on this, I am a guy." Ginny nodded and slunk away, face redder then a tomato. 

"Sorry, dear," Mrs. Weasley said. "But I too had to do a double take before. I thought you were a young lady as well." 

Kurama nodded and followed Ron upstairs, slipping his shirt back on, and grabbing Yusuke by the ear, silencing his laughter, but only outwardly. Inside, both Harry and Yusuke were still howling and clucthing their stomachs. Kurama? A girl? Oh, that was rich! Kurama let it go, knowing there was little he could do and silently bore it, knowing he would have a chance to laugh at them at least once this year.   
  


*~*~*~*~*~*   
  


Oh, wow. That was fun. As I said, updates will be slow so please be patient! I thank you for your cooperation ^_^ And thanks to everybody who gave me presents. I thought someone gave me cookies and sugar. Oh well! Thanks anyway! See you in the next chappie!   
  


~ Kyen 


	5. An Overlyhyped Author, a Snake, and a St...

Oh, thank goodness for all of you at ff.net! I have something to really do here! Thank you so much! *starts to cry* Oh! You all are the best!   
  


Yusuke: I know you like the fact they think you're good and all, but this is a little much, don't you think?   
  


Remeber who owns the dragon?   
  


Yusuke: 0_0   
  


Very good! Now, read on, my loyal fans! (Tis a long chapter...)   
  
  
  


An Overlyhyped Author, a Snake, and a Stranger Who is Familiar   
  
  
  


After the whole 'girl' incident, Ginny avoided Kurama's gaze, blushing at the obvious memory of him having to strip in order to asure her that he was, in fact, of the male gender. She also avoided Harry, for other less obvious reasons, but they nonetheless understood after the first few days. Ginny had a crush on Harry. Yusuke and friends teased the poor fellow over this, including Kurama, who had indured enough teasing due to his getting slobbering stares from both sides of the gender block, and was thankful there was another pester, though his teasings were by far the gentlelest of the group. Hiei avoided it all together, finding it boring and beneath him. 

Mr. Weasley was throughly fascinated with Yusuke's electronic watch, as he was with all Muggle things. He quizzed them all, including Hiei who kept his silence unless spoken to and if he felt the question important enough to answer, and he did a nice job of keeping his death glares to a minimum. Harry, Kurama, and Yusuke were more then happy to answer the questions, though Mrs. Weasley high discouraged it by her constant shaking of head movements and oncein a while a slice across the throat with her finger. However, Mr. Weasley in their face was more then enough to draw it out, if only to get him out of their faces. 

They also meant the house ghoul, a rather dreary fellow who seemed to be taken with Hiei, as if his silence and his death glares mirriored his own view on life, which it most certainly did not. The ghost thought life boring and drab, not worth the time and effort and that, if anything, humans were the only really intersting companions in the world, for they alone could speak. If he had known Hiei was far from human, that view might had done a three hundred and sixty degree turn. 

All in all, the house was not bad, with the exception of having to watch out for Fred and George, who were constantly looking for test subjects for their latest prank material. Yusuke, Hiei, and Kurama easily avoided this task - Hiei with his tradition 'hn' and death glare combo, Kurama with a polite wave that made the wood planks wiggle slightly, showing clearly his intent should they press the matter, and Yusuke with sharp retorts and/or a raised fist, depended on his mood right then. Harry and Ron avoided it most of the time, and really only becuase one of the previous three came to the rescue. Ginny was never dragged into and Percy was locked in his room most of the day, so they didn't bother with him, and the house ghost was no help. 

Mrs. Weasley, after about two weeks of their company, announced they were going to go to Diagon Alley early the next day, which was a Tuesday (not one of Yusuke's favorite days), and get their new supplies. Yusuke, truth be told, was the worst person to be around in the morning. 

"Rise and shine!" called Mrs. Weasley through the door, knocking loudly. "We leave in twenty minutes boys, so hurry up!" 

Harry, Ron, and Kurama got up, yawning and stretching, rolling out cots and beds, shuffling over the floor and dressing with eyes half closed. Hiei was already downstairs by the looks of it, the demon never one to be prone to sleeping late during the summer , or any season for that matter. 

"Someone get Yusuke up," Harry yawned, walking out the door. "I did it yesterday." 

"And I did it the day before!" Ron yawned and followed Harry. "Kurama, can you take care of it?" 

Kurama nodded and yanked the covers off Yusuke, who immediatley balled up and went into a shiver fit, teeth chatter. When this did little awaken him, Kurama grabbed his night shirt collor and raised him to face level. Screaming never worked, but this did. Grabbing the pillow, Kurama yanked off the covering and threw Yusuke back down on the bed, going to window and plucking a flower from the flower pot outside. Grasping the bud of the plant he rubbed it over the pillow case, releasing a foul smelling stench that did not belong in the house but in a bog somewhere. Sastified with the result, Kurama took the pillow case and slapped it over Yusuke's face, pressing hard. There came a sputtering cough and a flailing of arms before Kurama released him. His face was tinged an uncomely blue and his breath was ragged and sharp. With a wicked grin Kurama waved and went out the door. 

"Dan you Kurama," Yusuke hissed, dragging himself up and throwing the pillowcase into the dirty clothes bin as he went for the drawer with his clothes in it. 

Yawning loudly he gathered up some low riding hipster jeans, a leather belt, and a shirt that read 'Bad Boy' in kanji. Managing somehow to get the clothes on and his shoes too, he made his way downstairs where Mrs. Weasley was waiting, a plate of pancakes in her hand, an apron over an outing coat. She slapped the plate down and Yusuke devoured it under her disapproving stare in less then two minutes. He rinsed the plate and put it in the sink to be washed before following her to the fireplace where the others were gathered, her apron still tied around her wasit. 

"Now, we're going to be traveling by Floo Powder," she said. "Has everyone hear traveled by Floo Poweder before?" Yusuke and company gave her stares that read 'what-the-heck' and 'exactly-what-is-it-?'. "I'll take that as a no. Alright, well, we just throw a little Floo Powder in the hearth," she said and did so. Kurama jumped back a little alarmed, as did Harry, when the flames sprouted up, hissing green. Mrs. Weasley continued as though nothing were wrong, "Now, George, you demonstrate. All you do is get in the heart and yell, loud, clear, and precise, where you want to go and then, well, it takes you there." 

George was squatting in the hearth with a wide grin on his face, "Diagon Alley!" There was a pop and the smell of acrid smoke, but George was gone. They all blinked, well, the Weasley's didn't, but the others did. 

"Alright, Fred, you next, then Ginny, then Ron, Yusuke, Kurama, Hiei, Harry and then me," she said with a smile. One by one, the Weasley children filed over the hearth and popped away. 

Yusuke was after Ron and more then a little apprenhensive about doing this. With a prod from Mrs. Weasley, he got into the fire, ready to wince when the heat hit him, but none came. The flames produced no heat and he was instantly all for it. "Diagon Alley!" he shouted confidently and with a pop was gone. 

Kurama and Hiei followed him, Hiei not at all the pertrubed by going in the fire nor by traveling this way, and then Harry. Harry was more like Kurama, slightly nervous, but with a big difference - he was loathe to believe it would work without some harm being done to him. In a shaky voice he called out the words 'Diagon Alley' and felt himself dragged through the portal by the collar of his shirt (borrowed from Yusuke since all his other one were in the wash). He sputtered and coughed as he landed in a chimney, now covered in soot, and rolled out, not sure exactly where he was. 

He was in a shop filled to the brim with odd objects. He got up and searched the place, rearing back from eyeballs that still stared, and a severed hand or two, plus several very large spiders, fangs dripping venom as they stared hungrily at him, though he was by far to large to eat...in one sitting anyway. With a shiver he found the door and stumbled into the misty light of an alley way he did not know. 

"Sir, I implore, you stop that!" a voice called and Harry could just make out Kurama backed against a wall, a large man with a druken face and a tankard in his hand approaching. "Do not make me harm you!" 

The man chuckled, "You? Harm me? Oh, that's a good joke lassie." 

"Lassie?" sputtered Kurama as Harry drew nearer. "Good sir, I am a male! A boy! A lad!" The drunkard just continued to approach and Harry felt no pity for him when found himself on the cobblestone ground, clutching a face now harassed by stinging scratches, Kurama folding his rose whip onto his arm and forcing it back to its rose form. 

"Where are we?"Harry asked Kurama, grasping his arm so as not loose him in the thickening haze. 

"You came out here to, Harry?" Kurama asked. "I guess I didn't pronounce the words right. Oh well. Come on, let's try and find our way out of here." Together, the two set off the down the alley, Kurama raising his rose threatningly should anyone cast them anything more then a curious glance. 

They had been walking for about ten minutes when they halted, a rough voice calling their names. "Harry? Kurama?" They turned, ready to fight, but relaxed when they saw Hagrid lumbering out from the mist, a confused expression on his face. "What are you two doing here? Why aren't you in Diagon Alley?" 

"Wrong chimney," Harry said and Hagrid obviously got the idea, since he merely nodded and shooed them before him down twisting alley ways and corners before they emerge in the cleaner air of Diagon Alley. 

"There you two are!" Mrs. Weasley cried, running up to them. "Oh, oh, dear. Nothing happened, did it?" 

Kurama chuckled, "One man will wake up with a few more scratches then he expected today, but that's about all." 

Mrs. Weasley frowned, "That is not funny boy! Anyway, thank you Hagrid for returning them. Ginny, come on, we need to go get you some robes." Ginny nodded and took her mother's hand. George and Fred weren't around, but Hiei and Yusuke were leaning against a sign post, looking rather bored. Mrs. Weasley turned to them as Ron came dashing up through the crowd, smiling widley when he saw Harry. "Now, you five, go ahead and get your things and meet in the bookshop in one hour, understood?"she asked sternly. They nodded and she walked off, Hagrid following, head bent towards her in coversation. 

"Shall we set to it?" Yusuke asked. They all nodded and began the trek down Diagon Alley.   
  
  
  


*~*~*~*~*~*   
  


Laden with bags, the boys gratefully dropped into seats at the local parlor and ordered butterbeers, looking through their purchases as they waited. They had gone to the cauldron shop first, but these were not with them, seeing as they were going to be delivered (thankfully). They had also gone to the robes shop, getting things refitted. Hiei had grown a little, so his needed more fabric and the same went for Yusuke. They would pick them up when they left Diagon Alley. Next had been the pet shop, where Ron had wanted to get his pet rat, Scabbers, checked up on. He was rather limp as of late, more so then usual, and Ron was desperate to get him better. The woman their recognized the boys who had bought the impossible birds and cat and gave them treats for their pets. They had left with a bag of medicine for Scabbers and a somewhat releive Ron. After that they had just sort of walked around, not much else really being needed. They had bought some candy to sustain them througout the year, or some of it anyway, and had then walked around aimlessly till they got the parlor. They had fifteen minutes till they needed to be to bookstore, and that was only three shops away - about a two minute walk at the slowest. 

Their butterbeers arrived and another suprise. "Hi!" Hermoine called, dragging up a chair. Hiei and Yusuke stared at her, never really having warmed up to her, but Kurama smiled (if it was half forced) and Harry and Ron ordered her a butterbeer. Obviously they had warmed up to one another during the last of the school year. 

"Where have you been?" Ron asked. "We were going to meet you a half hour ago, but you weren't there." 

"Mom and Dad got out late," Hermoine explained. "And I had an awful time decided which book I wanted." Yusuke and Hiei rolled their eyes. They didn't hate her, but neither did they like her. 

The struck up a conversation about the year they were supposed to have and who the new defense against the dark arts teacher would be. They talked for about five minutes before Ron was soaked with butterbeer that was spit from Yusuke mouth. When he turned to inquire why he was soaked, he found that everyone's eyes, except Hermoine's and his, were focused on a very different point. 

Standing their, with a goofy (demented) smile its face, was a young man with orange hair in a ridiculous do with a jacket, a t-shirt, jeans, and tennis shoes, a bag swung over his shoulder, shrewd, black eyes glinting triumphantly at Yusuke and company. 

"Kuwabara?" 

"Hey guys!" he called in a snot filled, nasally voice, though neither Hermoine nor Ron understood, seeing as it was spoken in Japanese. 

"What are you doing here?" Yusuke asked, slipping into the language Kuwabara understood. He was amazed Kuwabara was here, and even more amazed he was not gloating or worse, making a fool of himself. 

"Just dropped by," he smiled. 

"What do you mean just dropped by?" they all howled, including Harry, who had mastered much of the language thus far. 

"You're supposed to be back with Genki protecting our family while we're gone!" roared Hiei. He did not have to say Yukina, for it suddenly dawned on Kuwabara. And by now, more then a few people were staring, unable to understand what they must have thought was chibberish coming from the japanese boys' mouths. 

"Oh, that's right!" he said, scratching his head. "Well, I'm heading back next week, so...hehehe." 

They all sighed. Yusuke jumped the fence and grabbed his jacket wrenching him down, "Kuwabara, please, don't embarrass me or anybody else, got that? Just...just stick with us till we leave and then, please, please be a good boy and go home." Kuwabara nodded and the rest of them joined, surrounding him. With a sigh, Hiei, Yusuke, and Harry led the way to the bookstore, Ron and Hermoine quizzing Kurama about Kuwabara with delight dripping off every word, and Kuwabara was milking it for all it was worth.(Kurama served as the translator). 

When they got into the bookstore, they were almost literally thrown back by the sound of shrieking within. They blinked and looked around, trying to find the cause. Kurama pointed to a sign of a man and then to the man himself, who they could see through a gap in a long line of women, Mrs. Weasley among them. The man had golden hair and large, bright eyes and a blinding smile,the type Yusuke and Kuwabara liked to punch the lights out of. By the sign, his name was Gildroy (I think I got that right) Lockhart. 

With sniffs, they moved off. Finding Mrs. Weasley they explained the situation with Kuwabara and left him there to stand oddly next to a woman he was taller then and could not communicate with. George and Fred were there and said a little something (mostly what Yusuke and Harry had felt obliged to teach them in their spare time), making Kuwabara smile a little. 

"What is this all about?" hissed Harry, still in Japanese, toYusuke. 

"Some author, I guess?" Yusuke hissed back. "Kurama! You have any idea what this is about?" 

Kurama turned and thought, "Well, I thought I saw a book like that on the table in the Weasley's living room one time, and saw Mrs. Weasley reading it, so, yeah, I guess. He must be doing a signing." 

"What are you three saying?" demanded Hermoine. They had forgotten she could not understand and sighed, switching back to english. 

"Who is Gildroy Lockhart?" Yusuke demanded. 

"Why, one of the best authors ever!" Hermoine squealed, forcing Yusuke to clean out his ears afterwards. "I can't believe you don't know that. All his books are on the list, except for the spells book, but close enough!" 

"Aaah," they said as one and looked at their books, finally noticing the same man was sitting at the desk signing book copies. 

Suddenly, Yusuke found there was a space next to him where Harry was and looked around, confused. He then saw that Gildroy was gone from his desk and now smiling in the center of the room, Harry clutched to his side, looking very confused and not pleased. Yusuke saw Kuwbara perk up as he caught the silent pleas of Harry for someone to save him, but Yusuke waved him back, watching with slight amusement as Harry's predicament. 

"Here, ladies and gentlemen, the Boy Who Lived! Harry Potter!" the blondie called, smiling. Yusuke had to resist the urge to knock at least one of those teeth out. "And, here I am. Together, two great heroes!" He went on and on and on and soon Yusuke was staring blankly at a wall, sleeping with his eyes open. 

Harry scuttled back to them with releif, breathing hard and shivering, more from nerves then acutal fear. "That. Was. Hell!" 

"Oh, so Potter doesn't like the spot light anymore?" a voice drawled. "Well, then, maybe who should go hide somewhere like a rat. There are no spot lights there!" 

"Away Malfoy," Yusuke said, instantly awake and putting on an air of an aristocrate staring at a bug. "Thou are not worthy of my time, impudent mud worm!" With that, he spun on his heel and walked away a few steps before spinning back around, Hiei grinning wickedly and Kurama chuckling politley. 

Malfoy just smiled, "Would you say that before the Weasle's mummy?" 

"UH?" they turned and saw an older, slimier version of Draco standing before Mrs. Weasley, who was biting her lower lip with Ginny hiding behind her and Kuwabara, who did not comprehend the situation. 

They rushed over, just in time to hear the end of a long, obviously subtling insulting, speech. He had a book in his hands, staring down at it, "And cast offs like these? Is this any way to start your daughter at Hogwarts?" Draco slid next to his father, grinning wickedly. He knew Yusuke and the others could not threaten his father openly in public like this, but that did not mean they were going to leave Mrs. Weasley defenseless. 

"What buisness is it of yours, may I inquire?" Kurama cut in swiftly so Mrs. Weasley did not have to answer. The releif in her eyes was very apparant. "Do you wish to help them buy buying newer models of the books?" 

"Ah, Suichi, is it not?" Mr. Malfoy said. "Glad to see you managed to get back over from Japan to continue your studies." 

"Mind giving the book back?" Yusuke asked him, nodding to the volume in his hand. Mr. Malfoy's commanding, rather superior manner, deflated a little when he saw Yusuke. Obviously he had not forgotten that night in the tower, nor was he short on hearing the stories on some of Yusuke's latest missions. 

He sucked in a breathe through his thin nostrils and tossed the book back into the small cauldron Ginny had, her things stashed in it. "I see you made it back to, Mr. Urameshi." 

"Call me Urameshi, please," Yusuke said as politley as he could. 

Mr.Malfoy sniffed and turned on his heels, Draco following, casting a glare that would have made any other person's hair curl. Yusuke just smirked and turned to go to the desk, books in hand. Mrs. Weasley stared after the Malfoy's, looking confused, but Kuwbara distracted her by showing her a book that had caught his eye. She looked at it and then showed it to Fred and George, who then attempted to translate. 

Yusuke would be very happy once Kuwabara as gone, and once he got a clean shot at Mr. Malfoy and Malfoy Jr.   
  


*~*~*~*~*~* 

That was slightly longer then I anticipated. Oh well. I am so glad I can update! Happy day! Wheee! See ya'll in the next chapter! 

-Kyen 


	6. The Tree That Fought Back

People! I know I about the Firebolt! It was a, well, it was just a reaction cause I haven't read the first ones in a bit, alright? I know what I did! I get it! I'm sorry! And thanks for clearing somethings up for me. One more thing - in chapter 4 I did correct myself when I talked about his broom by putting Nimbus and not Firebolt, so, forgive me right? I'm on vaca in a house that is zapping my mind away from boredom, alright?! Anyway, please, read on, and have fun. ^_^   
  
  
  
  
  


The Tree That Fought Back   
  


Sheque watched what happened through her own private mirror. She had to hand it to Yusuke, he certainly could take care of himself. But ever since the Goddess Mother had told her of Cormahs, she had been restless. If Cormahs was allied with some dark wizard it was very possible that this time around Yusuke and his friends would not survive. 

"Oh, Cormahs, why?" Sheque asked the mirror, placing one of her delicate hands on it as if she could stroke Yusuke's sleeping face. The mirror changed to Harry, then Kurama, then Hiei, then Ron, and finally Kuwabara. They were all in such danger, and all becuase she had pushed them to early into the twisted game her sister goddess was playing. 

With a final, defeated sigh Sheque waved away the image and her room sank into darkness. She did not banish the darkness, for in the darkness, she could, perhaps, better understand what he sister, Cormahs, was plotting.   
  


*~*~*~*~*~*   
  


"But dear, Lucious was seriously afraid of him," Mrs. Weasley hissed to her husband. "Why do you think that is?" 

It was near midnight, and Mrs. Weasley could still not get it out of her head the look of fear that passed through Lucious Malfoy's eyes when Yusuke had come to her and Ginny's aid. She had seen his forehead glisten as he surveyed the scene as Kurama and Hiei joined the bought. He had relinquished the book, but that look of fear had forced her to take her own second glance at Yusuke and his friends. What the world could have frightened Lucious Malfoy? It made no sense! 

"Dear, he was probably not used to being, well, talked back to in such a manner," her husband said with a yawn. "Think nothing of it. The children leave in a few days and you need to get them ready, yes?" 

Mrs. Weasley nodded, "Alright." She settled into the covers and tried to lull herself to sleep, but the eyes of Lucious Malfoy when Yusuke had appeared still nagged the back of her brain. What had frightened him? With disturbing thoughts, she finally slipped into the realms of sleep.   
  


*~*~*~*~*~*   
  


"Now, Kuwabara, you sure you can get back okay?" Yusuke asked him the next morning at breakfast. Mrs. Weasley had agreed to let Kuwabara stay the night, but she still found it unnerving she could not acutally communicate with the boy, and when he did talk, it was nothing more then gibberish. 

"Yeah, I can," Kuwabara said in his home language. He knew two words in English and that was it, so he stayed with Japanese, thankfully. "I'm sure those Remus guys will help me out." 

"As if," Hiei snorted. 

"Whatch it shrimp!" Kuwabara snapped, brining up a fist. 

"There will be no fighting in my kitchen!" Mrs. Weasley snapped. Kurama translated for Kuwabara and he nodded, sitting back down. 

"Gomen," he mumbled. Mrs. Weasley understood that word well enough and nodded. 

"Now, everyone, we leave for the train station in two hours, so be ready. Get your trunks packed and such and bring them downstairs, make sure you leave nothing behind, and Yusuke, make sure he gets home," Mrs. Weasley said and pointed to Kuwabara. Yusuke nodded and finished the rest of his breakfast before grabbing Kuwabara and dragging him outside, knapsack in tow. 

Kuwabara was sent on his way with instructions to tell their parents and Hiei's sister what had happened, where they were, and so forth and told to stay there. No more escapades of trying to find them and such. The rest of the morning was spent tidying up their rooms. Kurama was done within half hour, naturally a tidy person, being that his house was cleaner that a doctor's operating room and that his youko side was loathe to leave any traces behind. Added together who had an impecable neat freak. Hiei didn't have much and only need to store his new books and robes into his chest before he was done. He would have been content to sit around the rest of the day, but Mrs. Weasley asked him to help with garden gnomes, and, of course, Hiei relished throwing the little devils over the fence, his acutally goal of trying to skewer them on the fence itself. Yusuke, Ron, and Harry had the wost time of it, not being neat freaks or people who did not need social company or the aid of material possessions to occupy their time and they spent a good hour and a half packing their things. By the time they were done Mrs. Weasley was helping Mr. Weasley load the trunks into the magical car provided by the ministry, and the car Mr. Weasley himself owned - a bright, sky blue car that Yusuke nor anybody else could identify. 

Mrs. Weasley hollered a half hour later for them to come and pile into the car and Hiei came through the back, a gleeful, muderous glint to his eyes as he dusted off his hands. He licked one finger, which the trio that had come with him knew meant he had drawn blood from one of the gnomes. He grimaced as he tasted the blood, for it must have been either very iron tasting, or it was muddy. Either way, it was not blood Hiei would likely want to lick off again. 

They piled into the two cars - Yusuke, Kurama, Hiei, Harry, Ron, and Mrs. Weasley in one, with Ginny, Fred, George, and Mr. Weasley in another. It was acutally quite roomy and they all fitted easily and spaciously enough that Hiei did not feel the need to scratch somebody for making to much contact with his own skin. Their pets were even in there and there was still enough room to pile one trunk in with them (which they did not do, thankfully). 

With a lurch the car was off and they drove through the English countryside. Trees and small creeks or rivers blurred past them as the run continued to rise, staining everything a barn red just a shade shy of blood red. Several times Koronue (Again, I have butchered that - HELP ME!)would make a whining noise as he obviously spotted a bird or some creature he would have liked to devour, but never once moved from his seat on Kurama's lap, as if he expected Kurama do that for him. 

About two hours later they lurched to a stop infront of the train station.The driver hopped out and helped them retrieve their stuff, more then a few muggles gawking when they saw how many people and how much stuff came out. With reluctance their pets went into their carriers (save Kuronue who had a spacious, magically enhanced carrier with more then enough room to stretch and prowl)and they made their way to platfrom 9 3/4. More then a few people stared as Ookami shriekd indignation at Hiei for putting him in the large canary cage, but Hiei shut the bird up for a good bit with a death glare and whispered promise and the bird fell silent as they neared the loading platform. 

"Alright, Hiei, you first," Mrs. Weasley hissed. She didn't much like him, mostly for the fact he had ruby eyes that cast death glares at anyone and everything and with a 'hn' sound Hiei did as told, disappearing into the wall. She motioned for Ginny to go, then Kurama, then went Fred, George and finally she went (as Kurama reappeared to report Ginny was having a breakdown). 

"Right, my turn," Harry said and gripped the handle of his trolley. With a grunt he rushed to the wall...but didn't pass through. With an even louder grunt he fell back and Hedwig screamed he displeasure as she crashed to the ground. 

People stopped and stared and Yusuke immediatley acted, "Harry! Harry you fool, watch where you're going!" He walked swiftly to help the boy up and the odd looks disappeared, accepting the excuse. When he reached him he hissed, "Why didn't you go through?" 

"It's solid brick and cement I tell you!" Harry hissed back and Yusuke roughly kicked the wall, finding it to be solid. 

He blinked and Ron came up, looking confused and worried, "Can you not get through? What are we supposed to do?" They thought for a moment and then Ron brightened, "We can take my dad's car!" 

"What?" they both asked, looking at him as if he was insane (which they thought he really was at that point). 

"My dad's car!" Ron said excitedly. "It can become invisible and it can fly! Why not take it to Hogwarts? The train has probably left already and dad will be back soon. Either we do this or we get left behind!" Yusuke and Harry looked at eachother and silent diliberated before nodding. With a wicked grin, Ron led them to the car that was waiting outside.   
  


*~*~*~*~*~*   
  


"You sure this is safe?" Yusuke called from the back seat as they shakily sailed over England. 

"Yeah, sure I'm sure!" Ron called back. "Can't be that hard can it?" Yusuke did not answer that question. He really didn't like to many motor vehicles, not since he had been killed by one. 

With a feeling in his stomach like he was going to hurl, Yusuke stuck his head out the window into the cloud, shivering as their damp cold washed over his face. Somewhere in the distance they heard the ring of a train's horn and chug of its engines. 

"Descend Ron! I think we're near the train!" Harry called over the increased groaning of the motor. 

Ron nodded, pale faced and descened. The came up above the tracks, not sure where they were or if they were eve heading in the right direction. Looking around, Ron's eyebrows came together in a confused knot, "Where's the train?" 

Yusuke blinked and then goosebumps rose on his flesh as the sound of the train's horn burst through the windows, loud and clear. With sudden realization he shakily turned around. His eyes opened wide and his mouth hung agape, "Behind us!" 

"What?" Harry asked and turned back. His eys and mouth mimicked the look of Yusuke's face. "Behind us! Ron, go up! Ascend! Ascend!" 

"I don't know if I can!" Ron cried, his foot all the way down on the accelorator. "This thing maybe to heavy to do that!" 

"Orphion help us!" Yusuke screamed. Orphion was the name of a powerful past demon lord, known to come to add of other demon lords in their time of need. 

With a sudden lurch their car spun to the right and up, as if lifted and cradeled in a child's hand. They ascened gracefully and then, they felt the weight of gravity take over, sinking in their seats, making the springs creak. Yusuke blinked and looked out the window. A cloud obscured the train, but the cloud was in the oddest shape. For a moment the thought he could make out the face of a handsome youth before it vanished into nothing more then whisps of cloud. 

"That was close!" Ron breathed. "I'm never doing that again!" 

"You sure as hell won't!" screamed Yusuke. "Be grateful Orphion helped us out, else we'd be crushed up with this hunk of metal beneath that train!" 

"Orphion?" Harry and Ron repeated. Yusuke shook his head and sank deeper into his seat, grateful that ordeal was over with.   
  


*~*~*~*~*~*   
  


"We there yet?" groaned Harry as Yusuke lightly tapped his head from the seat behind him. 

"Almost, I can see the castle," Ron replied, his face still pale from the earlier incident with the train. 

Harry sat up and blinked drowsily. He looked back to see Hedwig preening and Yusuke gently stroking Shinrai as he half dozed, half paid attention to what was happening. 

"Oi, what's that?" Ron asked, peering into the darkness before him. 

"Do not tell me it is another train," Yusuke said, suddenly awake. 

"Uh no...," Ron said, squinting to see if it cleared up. 

"It's a tree!" Harry screamed - to late. 

With a sickening lurch they hurled into the branches of the tree. Dazed and with their head slightly bruised, the thrio tried to re-orient themselves. There was a loud bang and they looked around, not sure what had just happened. Another bang and an indention in the roof of the car. Another bang and another large indention in the side of the car. 

"Blimey, what the blazes is this?" Ron cried, struggling for his wand. 

"The stupid tree is attacking us!" Yusuke declared. Shinrai screeched and Hedwig flapped her wings, very disgruntled, though not alarmed. 

"How do we get out?" Harry demanded, fishing for his own wand. 

Yusuke growled, "Well, I don't care if I have to tear this car apart, I'm not going to be tree food!" 

Summoning energy to his fist he reared back and slammed it into the door, sending it reeling just as another limb was coming in for another bang at it. Harry nodded and summoned his own energy, forcing the door to bend and snap open with the pressure from his shield. Ron, on the other hand, was not so lucky.Oh, he made it out, but landed harder then Harry or Yusuke. Waving his wand and shouting a stunning spell he managed to get the door open and roll out. He groaned when he heard a sickening crack and Yusuke and Harry winced, knowing what the sound most likely meant. 

"I'm okay...I think," Ron groaned and rolled away. His face went pale and long again when he saw what HAD cracked. "My wand! Now what do I do?" His wand had snapped in half and was barely still connected by a thing string in its interior making. 

"Well, we can worry later," Yusuke said. "We need to get to the great hall before anyone notices where gone." They looked at him as if he had spoken chiberish. "Okay,so they know we're gone, but we can make something up, come on!" 

"What about your trunks?" Harry asked. In response, the blue car ripped itself free of the tree and rolled over to them, opening the trunk and ejecting their things. They landed in tact (Hedwig screaming bloody murder)and the boys rushed over to them. 

Harry gathered Hedwig and his trunk while Yusuke swung his own over his back (going a little into his demon form to do so), and helped Ron carry his up to the castle. Shinrai had already flown off, probably to alert Ookami they were there or to hunt, but that was beside the point. 

Weary, sweaty, and grass stained they slammed their trunks down and brushed themselves off. They turned to go to the great hall when a sinister, oily voice stopped them in their tracks. 

"Urameshi, Potter, Weasley - my office, now!" Professor Snape hissed. 

With looks of utter dismay, the trio followed their least favorite teacher down the hall, away from the aroma of food and down into the dingy dungeons of Hogwarts.   
  


*~*~*~*~*~*   
  


Right, I could have done the whomping willow thing better, but I haven't read it in awhile and I don't have the book with me, so please, please, bear with me! I am doing my best, I promise! Be grateful I can update! 

Oh, and thanks for the cookie! 

Yusuke: I didn't get any cookie. *that annoyed, sweat drop look they sometimes get* 

You're not the authoress. Now back to work! *boots Yusuke back into fic* See you in the next chappie! *scarfs down last of cookie* 

~ Kyen 


	7. Jaw Dropping New Arrivals

Right, sorry it has taken so long to update, but my grandparent's comp freaked out so I had to wait to get back to my own comp, and well, here I am! ^_^ Anyway, I guess it's time for a major update and, uh, by the way – the characters introduce in this chapter, I am not sure if they died and if they did, I don't care! I want them in here and so they shall be, got it?! Right, now that is cleared up, on we go! And the programs are my creation, so DEAL!

**Yusuke & cast: Thanks for cookies, cake, and trip to Hawaii everyone!**

**Oh, yes, that's right. I must thank everyone for their wonderful gifts! Oh, and, I am going to set up a _Random Acts of Insanity _fic for the YYH character. So, ya know, if you want to check it out, please do. It's not up yet, but it will be soon, so keep looking for it, k? Thank you! On we go. **

**One more thing. I will emphasize this again: NO PAIRINGS!**

**Jaw Dropping New Arrivals**

"You do realize that a total of seven muggles saw you, correct? In a flying car nonetheless!" Snape shouted. "Do you realize what you have done?" 

                Yusuke was half listening. It didn't matter to him if he was suspended, but Ron's face was plastered with a look of complete fear and Harry was shaking every so often, not comforted by Snape's hard, gleaming eyes as he looked the three over.

                "I should have all three of you suspended!" crowed Snape.

                "Professor Snape, I don't think that is your place," a new voice said. 

All three children turned to look as Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore came in. Professor McGonagall was as tight knit as ever and Dumbledore's eyes were sparkling under his half moon spectacles as he stared at them. Instantly they all relaxed, knowing they weren't going to have to leave. Well, Yusuke didn't relax, he actually tensed. He didn't exactly like school, and suspension was his prime objective back in Japan, so he wouldn't have a reason to go anymore to classes he rarely tried to attend.

"Yes, of course," Snape said tersely, eyes blazing as he realized he would not be getting rid of his least favorite students anytime soon. "But how many points should I deduct then?"

"You can't," Yusuke said suddenly, eyeing Snape with a superior air.

"And why not?" Snape demanded. 

"Think about it," Yusuke ordered him. "When we took the car, term hadn't started."

Harry brightened, "That's right! So, if it's outside of the term, it can't really count as an offense, can it?" 

"No, it doesn't," Dumbledore said with a faint smile. "No points deducted."

"As for you three, you had better go and eat dinner before it's all taken," Professor McGonagall said. "But after, come to my office. We have a long detention period to discuss." The three groaned and moved out of the office.

"Why did you defend them Minerva?" Snape hissed. 

"Serveus (I butchered that. I'm not even sure I used it right!), it was not really all their fault," Dumbledore said. 

"Wasn't it?" Snape asked him calmly. "They could have come some other way so that our society was not thrown into the open!" 

"Calm thyself, Professor," McGonagall advised him. "I shall see to their punishment." Snape nodded and they left for the hall, Snape seething all the way.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

                "Where were you?" Hiei demanded. "You never got on the train!" 

                Yusuke nodded, "I know. We drove."

                "You what?" Kurama asked, nearly choking on his food. "Drove? You? Are you nuts?" 

                Yusuke rose an eyebrow, "Do I honestly need to answer that?"

                "Well, no," Kurama admitted. "But still, are you mad?"

                "Actually, it was sort of a driving and flying thing," Ron admitted. "You see, the car we used could fly." 

                "That's so much better," Hiei said sarcastically. 

                "Shut up," Yusuke snapped back. 

                "But, why couldn't you get through the barrier? We all did," Kurama asked them.

                Harry shrugged, "It's didn't do that last year and why would it? I mean, it's not like it's anything new to us, and we aren't muggles." 

                "True," Kurama murmured chomping on some chicken. "It's odd though. I mean, you didn't do anything to make it block you, did you?" 

                "No," Ron said. "If it doesn't like people running through it wouldn't it have stopped at least one of you before hand?"

                "This is all such a bore!" Hiei said, ripping the meat off his fork. "You got here and that's all that counts." 

                "May I have your attention?" Dumbledore called from the raised platform he and the other teachers sat upon. This silence Yusuke's answer, but he gratefully shoved more roasted chicken in his mouth as all eyes swiveled to stare at the Headmaster. "I would like to introduce our newest teacher. For Defense Against the Dark Arts we have the grand Gildroy Lockhart." At this so many girls squealed or sighed Yusuke was ready to blast the man, for he knew it would happen many more times before the year was out. "Yes, and we have taken on a new program for assistant teachers. The man who will be helping you with you studies in Defense Against the Dark Arts is Professor Karasu." 

                "What?" screamed Kurama, Hiei, and Yusuke together. People stared as the trio's jaw dropped when the man came in.

                Girls squealed when they saw him. His hair was black as ever, streaming down his back in inky, sick waves, now tied very loosely at the nape of his neck. His cold eyes swept over the hall and stalled slightly on Yusuke, Hiei, and Kurama. Together they groaned when they realized what tortures that man could now bring to them. Kurama shuddered when he thought back to the Dark Tournament and how Karasu had 'played' with his hair in the hall that one time. He still had nightmares about the man and that little incident.  The only difference this time was that his mask was already removed, and full lips were pulled into a fake, cold smile as he took a seat slightly behind Gildroy. That and he looked normal much like a sorcerer with black robes swirling about his body, making his alabaster skin stick shine in the pale light of the hall. 

                Dumbledore went through several other people whom the trio would not meet in their classes and then came the second surprise, "And we have also been asked by the Ministry to have four selected Witches and Wizards stay within our houses to see how the students Progress. For Ravenclaw we have Mrs. Crawford, for Slytherin we have Mr. Dameon, for Hufflepuff Miss Millicent, and for Gryfindor we have Mr. ShiShiwakamaru." 

                "Who?" the trio screamed again and this gained them more looks. 

                ShiShi waltzed in, eyes bright with amusement as he caught the slacked jaw looks of the trio of demons. His purple hair was longer then last time, or so it seemed, pulled in a half bun at the back of his head, held there by a red silk ribbon that matched his eyes. His lips were pursed slightly in a look of amusement as the girls again squealed (the other house girls groaning when they didn't get the hot one), and his robes, colored deep maroon, swirled and hugged his thin, yet muscled frame. First they had Karasu to deal with, now ShiShi? Suddenly everything seemed bleaker when the noticed a slightly filmy look to his robes. He still had the Cape. Things were indeed not looking up. ShiShi took a seat with the other three wizard and witches slightly behind the dais with Karasu, his eyes still laughing at the trio's look of horror. 

                They were still like that when they left the hall, Yusuke to go to McGongall's office, and Hiei and Kurama to the dorm. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

                "Three weeks with Filch!" howled Ron. "That's worse then suspension!" 

                Yusuke was lost in his own world, wondering why the heck Koenma had let those two demons out of Spirit World. It made no sense. Why the heck would he do that? What scheme where ShiShi and Karasu cooking up? Yusuke growled and scratched his head frantically, his brain overloaded as possibilities came running into his head. 

                "What's wrong?" Harry asked him, noticing Yusuke's obvious distress.

                "ShiShi," Yusuke growled. 

                "ShiShi?" Harry mused. "Oh! You mean that new, er, attendant, I guess." 

                Yusuke frowned, "Yes!"  
                "Do you know him?" Harry asked. "From one of your missions?" 

                "Try he wanted to kill Genki and everyone in the stadium during the Dark Tournament," Yusuke hissed. 

                "Oh dear," Harry said, understanding at once. With Yusuke, the only person he really like from the Tournament was Jin, and he hated everybody else. Yes, he hated them all with a burning passion, which he displayed several times during retellings of the fights.

                "What Dark Tournament?" Ron asked, lost.

                "I'll tell you some other time, k?" Yusuke said. "Not right now. Right now…right now I need to his ShiShi's face."

                The Fat Lady sniffed, "Aren't we violent? What's the password?"

                They all stared blankly at her. They had never gotten it. "This can't get any worse!" Yusuke wailed. The Fat Lady swung open, and on the other side was ShiShi. "Correction, it just did," Yusuke said under his breathe. 

                "Hello Mr. ShiShiwakamaru," the two boys said, Ron stumbling over the name while Harry said with flawlessly. They disappeared inside while Yusuke just stood there, glaring at ShiShi.

                ShiShi chuckled, "I can see you still don't like me." 

                "I never did, now did I?" Yusuke asked him with an under-note of venom. 

                "No, that's true," ShiShi chuckled again. "Are you coming in or not?" Yusuke growled and slid in, roughly shoving ShiShi with his shoulder. ShiShi took it in stride and came in after Yusuke. 

                Most of the common room was empty, many of the children getting their rooms ready and unpacking. The only people left were Hermoine (doing last minute check ups on her homework) and Hiei, who had chosen a chair facing the entrance, Yusuke's glaring stare joining his.

                "Come now boys, I'm not here to kill anyone," ShiShi waved his hand, dismissing their stares.

                Hiei snorted, "That is the least I can say of our last impression, and meeting, with you." 

                "That was some time ago, wasn't it?" ShiShi asked him sweetly.

                Hermoine sniffed, "Come now you three. Mr. ShiShiwakamaru isn't mean or bad at all. How can you think so lowly of him?"

                Yusuke's temper was not improved by this comment, "Maybe because I have not appointed myself his number one fan in his fan club!" 

                Hermoine's eyes jerked up, glaring, "How dare you! I thought you were rude last year, but this is the last straw!"

                "And what are you going to do?" Yusuke demanded, his irritation now being tapped. "If I recall correctly that death plant seed is still in you!" 

                ShiShi raised and eyebrow and looked at Hiei, "Kurama put a death seed in her?" 

                Hiei nodded, "The situation called for it."

                 "Indeed," ShiShi said with a smirk. "Now I suggest you all get to bed. Tomorrow will be a rough day."

                "And which one of you shall deliver the first punishment? Karasu or you?" Yusuke demanded. "I really don't care who I shoot first." 

                ShiShi forced on a smile, "You assume much, Yusuke. Who said we are here to hurt you?" 

                "No one," Yusuke hissed with venom running through every word. "I just know it's your style. Watch out ShiShi. Cause when the first person disappears, I won't hesitate to run you through!" With that Yusuke stomped off to his dormitory, Hiei close behind. 

                "You must forgive them!" Hermoine said as she packed her things. "They are…they are not the most polite people in the world." 

                "I know," ShiShi said and waved her off. He, in turn, went up the boy's stairs into a newly added room off to the right behind the fireplace. He stepped into his room and shed his robes, collapsing into his bed, rubbing his face as moonlight spilled onto him. "Why? Why me?" With a sigh he pulled the covers up tried to go to sleep, pondering why Dumbledore had chosen him out of all the demons he had seen at the prison. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

                Cormahs looked with disgust and the withered and wasted Voldemort. The man was of no use to her. He was far too weak! For some reason his energy was draining, not returning! It was infuriating! How was she supposed to rid herself of the annoying demon brats now? To add to the pot of trouble, the two demons Karasu and ShiShiwakamaru had joined them!

                "Please tell me you have a plan to get rid of them!" she screeched at Voldemort, not all that pleased with anything at the moment.

                Voldemort drew in a rasping breathe, "And the moment, I have already put one into motion."

                "What?" Cormahs asked, stunned. Instantly, her attitude changed and she stroked Voldemort tenderly. "Do tell me," she purred, "what you have in mind."

                "I sealed some of myself within a book, my diary," Voldemort explained. "It will unlock a dark secret in Hogwarts and the school will be defeated, along with Harry Potter."

                "What will the book unlock?" Cormahs hissed.

                "A deadly beast, which will feast upon the warm flesh of the children of Hogwarts. A beast which will hunt blood, and when my essence has gained enough information, will hunt down Harry Potter!" Voldemort screeched, though it was more a wailing whisper.

                Cormahs's gleamed. She knew what he spoke of. She had been around during the creation of Hogwarts. Oh, this was perfect! "Don't worry. Even if this beast fails, I have a plan that can intertwine with yours, and assure our success!" 

                Voldemort chuckled thinly, "Very well, my Goddess."

                Cormahs let out her death toll laugh as her plans began to form in her mind. This would be so much fun, and with plenty of torture before the actual death. What made it all the better was that the tests her sibling and her 'god brothers' and 'goddess sisters' would inflict upon them would make the torture all the more enjoyable, and the slaughter easier, with plenty more blood as he selected creature feasted upon their souls. 

                Yes, it was all coming together. Cormahs continued to laugh, her mirth sending ravens, her holy symbol, screaming through the night, already proclaiming her victory.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

As I said. I do not care if they are dead or never come back. I WANT THEM AND THEY SHALL STAY! ^_^ Besides, we all love them, so how can we not want them? * glares at everybody* We want them, right? Gooooood. 

**Anyway, see you in the next chapter!**

**-Kyen**


	8. First Day of Classes

**Surprise, surprise, right? I know I said something about prison, but guess what? That shall be explained! MWHAHAHAHAHA! Okay, I am getting ahead of myself.  Anyway, that was a slightly twisted chapter, now for some more fun! And guess what? My Insanity fic is up! It's called something along the lines of _Burning the Christmas Tree and More Random Insanity _~_^ Please R&R on that fic! Thank you! **

**Karasu is a titch OOC.**

**Karasu: Why do you all hate me?**

**Because you tortured Kurama in the DT and you don't exactly have a nice air about you.**

**Karasu: Whoever kicked me – I SHALL HAVE MY REVENGE!**

***whacks with BIG HAMMER USED FOR SMASHING MARSHMELLOW BUNNIES THAT GO "PUU" ALL DAY LONG* No, you won't. Now sit and work with me here so I can do this fic! On we go! ^_^**

First Day of Classes 

                Yusuke kept rubbing Kurama's back as the red head sat on a bench outside the castle, head in hands, a pile of vomit at his feet. Karasu did not leave good impressions on him. Kurama blamed the chicken he had last night, that foxes like him had bad reactions to chickens, but Yusuke didn't buy it (seeing as real foxes just love to raid chicken coops). Karasu had always freaked Kurama out, but Yusuke just didn't know how much. 

                "Come on. At least try to go," Yusuke said sympathetically. "We get to bear it together, so, you know, it will be okay." 

                "But it's Karasu!" Kurama retorted. "Think Yusuke –Karasu!" 

                Yusuke nodded, "I know. And you beat him before, so what harm can it do to beat him again?" 

                "You're right," Kurama said, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. "Let's go." 

                Yusuke helped him up and walked with him to class. They had received their schedules that morning and Kurama had come over at breakfast to talk with them. It turned out they had Defense Against the Dark Art together with a few Slytherins, Draco Malfoy among them, Gryfindor double potions with Slytherin, they had Herbology with Ravenclaw (so they would all be shamed before Kurama) and on and on the list went. 

                Breakfast had been rather interesting though. Ron's owl, Errol, had come crashing through the window, and managed to upturn Heidi's porridge so that it splattered into his face. For about the next minute it was all Kurama and Yusuke could do to keep Heidi from roasting the bird and using him as replacement breakfast. Ron had grabbed the owl and sent him on his way, only to go very pale, making his freckles stand out dramatically, and holding a red envelope.

                "What's that?" Harry asked. 

                "A Howler," Ron gulped. They looked at him blankly.

                "Well open it!" hissed Neville across the table. "I got a Howler once and didn't open it. Not a pretty sight." 

                Ron nodded mutely and opened it up. "RON WEASLEY I CANNOT BELIEVE WHAT I AM READING IN THE NEWS PAPERS AND IN THIS NOTE FROM THE HEADMASTER! I AM DISGUSTED AND YOU HAVE GOTTEN YOUR FATHER IS SO MUCH TROUBLE! ONE MORE TOE OUT OF LINE AND I WILL HAVE YOU HOME IN A FLASH WITH MORE THEN A TANNED HIDE! Oh, and Ginny, congrats of making it into Gryfindor." With that the red note growled a last warning and shredded itself. 

                Kurama, Hiei, Harry, and Yusuke and stared on dumbly, not exactly sure what had just happened as Ron looked ready to faint as giggles went through the hall. ShiShi had looked around like some deer in the headlights as the note screamed and Karasu was walked past them at the time. He had stopped to watch with little concern and then moved on. 

                "Right, well," Yusuke said with a deep breathe. "Let's go." He pushed the door open and prayed Kurama would not faint if Karasu did…something. 

                Inside the room the two took seats by Hiei and Harry, Ron on the other side of Harry. Hiei did not look pleased, but that was to be expected, and Harry looked apprehensive, while Ron was still oblivious. Yusuke had not go around to explaining much. 

                "Good morning!" a voice called and two people glided in. The girls giggled as Gildroy swept by, his white smile making Yusuke ache to hurt it, dressed in robes of bright, blinding turquoise. It was when Karasu glided past (since walking was clearly above the man) that the girls swooned. His black robes swirled about his body and his hair was let loose completely today, looking slightly more silky and greasy then usual. 

                "Right, now, class, you all already know me I'm sure, but I would like you take note of my assistant teacher, Professor Karasu," Gildroy said with one of those blinding smiles. He turned to Karasu, "Do you have a last name, my good man?" 

                "Not one I care to give," Karasu said, his deep voice resonating through the classroom, making more girls swoon when they realized his voice was as sexy as they thought he was. 

                "Right, well," Gildroy huffed, "I have a special little test before we begin class today." He passed out the papers and Yusuke gagged when he saw the questions. "You have till half the sand runs down the glass." He over turned it and the class began. 

                Yusuke looked blankly at the paper and Hiei seemed to be meditating. With a disgusted snort as he looked the questions over he stuck his pencil in his mouth and began to chew. Kurama was scribbling something, but Yusuke ignored him and glared at Karasu, who had taken a seat to the side of Gildroy and was placidly reading a book. 

                "Alright! Time's up!" Gildroy called and the papers were passed forward. He looked through them and clicked his tongue. "My, my, you all must reread my books! And what's this? Mr. Urameshi and Mr. Hiei, you don't have anything!" 

                He turned to Yusuke and Yusuke roughly jabbed Hiei, who blinked and looked back up, "What?" 

                "Why did you not answer even one question on this?" Gildroy asked, waving the papers.

                "I felt it beneath me," Hiei said, never the subtle one in the presence of men like Gildroy. The Slytherins chuckled at this, but many girls glared at Hiei, who returned them with much more force.

                "Well then," Gildroy sniffed. "What about you, Mr. Urameshi." 

                "I didn't read the books and then there's Hiei's reason," Yusuke said with a straight face. He caught Draco silently laughing and promised to hurt him one day soon.

                Gildroy clucked again, "I'll let you two off easy this time, but not the next." He flipped through the papers, making several comments and several winks (Karasu just eyed the man as if he were bug every so often). "Oh, look! Twenty points to Gryfindor because Mr. Minamoto and Miss Granger have full marks." Karasu's eyebrows rose and his cold eyes focused on Kurama. 

                Kurama shuddered, "So I read the stupid books! Is it my fault?" Yusuke just patted his back sympathetically. 

                "Right, now, on to the lesson," Gildroy said and made a motion with hand aimed at Karasu. Karasu looked annoyed and rose, gliding to the back of the room and came back, roughly placing a cage on Gildroy's mahogany desk. "Now, I must ask you not to scream," he said dramatically. Karasu seemed unconcerned and flipped through his book once more. With an overdramatic motion Gildroy flung off the cover of the cage, "Yes! Freshly caught Cornish pixies!" 

                Everyone stared. In the cage were electric blue, alien like things with antennae and wings. Yusuke looked at them before bursting into laughter. Even Gildroy (as big as his ego was), could not mistake his laughter for terror. 

                "Mr. Urameshi, I think you take a little to lightly of these little devils," Gildroy said.

                "Actually, pixies have no relation to demons other then being a phenomenon of the human, or smuggle, world," Karasu said. Several girls giggled at the comment and Karasu looked at Gildroy, waiting for a retort.

                "It was a figure of speech," Gildroy coughed.

                "Sorry. I'm not good with humor," Karasu said and turned back to his book.

                "He's got that right," Kurama hissed. 

                "Well, let's see how you all handle them," Gildroy said and flipped the cage open. Karasu slammed his book shut as the pixies swarmed out and he looked ready to kill Gildroy as mayhem ensued. 

                Pixies swarmed about the room, laughing in high pitched, squeaky voices. Harry immediately set up a small version of his shield so it formed something like a suit of armor around him and Hiei heated his body temperature up, making it impossible for the fairies to get close without burning themselves, which they were loathe to do. Ron dodged this way and that, while Yusuke and Kurama batted them away with ease, their training making them able to see the little buggers and predict movements with no real taxation of their strength.  Neville cried in alarm as two pixies picked him by his ears and the proceeded to strand him on the chandelier above the classroom. Hermoine, using her book as a shield, tried to maneuver her way to the door, but failed as pixies sent the book flying.

                "Come now, round them up!" called Gildroy, diving under his desk. 

                "He wants us to what?" Kurama asked, plainly not seeing why he should have to do it.

                "ENOUGH!" bellowed Karasu as he snatched a pixie from the air. 

                Instantly everything stopped and the pixies, unaccustomed to being yelled at (with the actual command aimed at them) stopped as well to stare at the black haired man. In his hand was clutched a pixie, squealing as it struggled to get away from Karasu's iron grip. Karasu place his thumb and forefinger on the pixie's head and held it high so the other pixies could see.

                "Now, get back in the cage," he growled and began to put pressure on the pixie's head, making its eyes go wide and it's tongue stick out as it squeaked in pain. "Well? Get in there or you will all suffer a similar fate!" Karasu snapped. 

                The pixies, not sure who the man was but getting a slightly disturbing sense from him, did not want to argue. They fled the cage and he shoved the pixie he had in his hand in there with them. The girls looked on in awe as he brushed a stray tendril of his hair back behind his ear and knelt, his low voice resonating through the classroom as he talked to Gildroy. Now words could be made out, but they knew he was talking by the insistent rumbling. As he talked, Draco slithered over to Harry and the others.

                "Alright Potter, how come the pixies didn't torture you?" he demanded. Harry shrugged with a faint smirk playing on his lips. Draco growled, "I know you did something Potter! And you too, you red eyed freak." Draco aimed this at Hiei, who just stared, a little surprised at the gall Draco was showing just now.

                "Back off," Yusuke hissed. "Remember, your dad is scared of me. I think that shows something." 

                "Sure as heck it does!" spat Draco. "That you're a punk living off the streets with a drunk mother!" 

                Yusuke snapped and grabbed Draco's collar, lifting him off his feet, fist balled, "I've been waiting a long time to do this." His eyes glinted dangerously and Malfoy suddenly didn't look too good. 

                "And you can wait longer," a voice said as Draco was plucked from Yusuke's grasp and deposited on the ground. Draco sank to his knees, staring up at his dark savior – Karasu. "Hold your anger, Urameshi. Tis not wise to waist it on something undeserving." Kurama, for all his hate of Karasu, applauded the man silently. In one gesture and phrase he rescued and yet humiliated Draco. 

                Yusuke growled, but sat back down, grabbing his things as the bell rang. He saw Gildroy go into his room, glancing back a little fearfully at Karasu as he did so. Yusuke got up to leave, but Karasu grabbed his shoulder and held him back. Yusuke watched the others go then faced Karasu.

                "Yusuke, do not be rash," Karasu stated calmly. "Last time, when you were here, the dangers were only a warm up. Now things are getting tougher and the stakes are much higher." 

                "What are you talking about?" Yusuke demanded.

                "If I told you, both of us would die," Karasu said and pushed him to the door. Yusuke went out it willingly, more then a little unnerved. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

                The rest of the day was more then boring (especially Binns class, where Yusuke got a full forty-five minutes of sleep). Hermoine was already fretting over homework and Yusuke was still unnerved by Karasu's little 'warning'. Kurama had had another little 'fit' outside again and the pile of vomit grew slightly larger since Karasu had passed VERY close to Kurama in the halls and at lunch as he walked to dais. 

                Snape's class had been the usual torture. Snape continued to seethe over the fact he had not gotten rid of Yusuke or Harry, and Draco was still shaking slightly from the encounter with the combined forces of Karasu and Yusuke. Yusuke was grateful when that class had ended (having barely restrained himself form shooting Snape) and collapsed onto his bed, asleep instantly while Hiei worked by candlelight on his homework. All in all, it had not been the best of days. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

                ShiShi sipped his tea as Karasu poured his own cup before sitting down. "So, how long do you think before…?"

                "I don't know," Karasu said simply and sipped. "All we can pray for is that our presence slows that process down."

                ShiShi chuckled, "And to think, he's a demon lord and we both aspired to kill him."

                "I was after Kurama," Karasu reminded him.

                "Aren't you still?" ShiShi chuckled. 

                Karasu made a 'hn' sound and laughed softly, "I know the fox is beyond me now." 

                ShiShi just sipped his tea and the two looked into the flames quietly, pondering their fates this time around. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

And I am evil! Right. Anyway, thanks for all the gifts and my friend just gave me word that there is a YYH/HP/Inuyasha cross over fic out there – so if you all could help me find it and see if it copies me in any way, I would appreciate it! Thank you!  ^_^

**-Kyen**


	9. Dreams and Names

**Right. I suppose it's time for an update. I would REALLY appreciate it if you would go and take a look at the fic _Burning Christmas Trees and More Random Insanity_. It's belongs to my friend and me, but just the same I would so appreciate some more reviews! ^_^ Basically it's a humorous thing during Christmas Caroling (yes, I DO know it's not Christmas) and well, we screwed up a song and Hiei…Hiei just needs help. We need to add some chapters, but we could use some reviews for motivation and some cool ideas. We'll give you credit, but we need some help here! Thanks a lot if you review and to those who gave the cast presents. (Hiei: SUGAR! *nabs pixie stick* Me: HIEI! NOOOOOO! Oh well) Yes, I realize Kurama throwing up is not the reaction you expected, but I forgot to mention he would be a little OOC, as many of my characters are at times, and I (personally) love Karasu. He is one of my bishies! ^_^ Anyway, on with the chapter!**

**Warning: The Chapters from now on might be shorter or longer depending on what I'm trying to get through in the chapter, so, you know, deal. And we all know in almost every chapter there is a tiny OOC, so deal! And, AFTER THIS CHAPTER IS POSTED, I AM HEREBY CHANGING MY NAME TO…*drum roll* *glares at Karasu* I SAID DRUM ROLL! *Karasu does drum roll* My new name is…. Blaque Midnyte! Yes, dark, but what I want, so, when you look for chapter ten and use my name you will have to use Blaque Midnyte. **

Dreams and Names 

            Sheque stared into the orb before her, watching Yusuke and Harry get ready for bed. She did not turn her head when her god brother, Fisron, appeared. "Are they ready to enter Lorliefiti's Realm?" he asked, referring to Lady Dreali's sister, the Goddess of Dreams and Sleep.

                "Yes, and Lorliefiti has promised us a few hours to speak with them," she said. Lorliefiti, being the Goddess of Dreams and Sleep, had the right to grant or refuse any other god, even her own mother, the power to enter a mortal's dreams and give them advice. Directly telling them what to do would result in Lorliefiti's wrath, and when more then one god had to be replaced because they had disobeyed her.

                "Then let us hurry," Fisron said. "I refuse to waist even one minute." With that said, the two gods put their hands on the orb and concentrated, entering Lorliefiti's Realm.

*~*~*~*~*

                _Yusuke winced as light poured down upon him, illuminating a small area of something like glass. Under his feet he could make out shattered images – some with demons, others humans, so peaceful, and some filled with blood. It was like a history of two worlds, but he didn't know which ones really, since many of them were far to chipped and cracked to make out._

_                "Beautiful, isn't it?" a voice asked and Yusuke swung around to face a young woman, with eyes older then time. Her hair was inky black and pulled back atop her head with comb, a white lily atop it, set in it. Her eyes were colored deep brown, and they twinkled with wisdom deeper then Yusuke could ever have comprehended._

_                "Who are you?" Yusuke demanded, remembering the last time this had happened he had to fight his way out of the dream._

_                "I pick to quarrel with you," the woman said, holding her hands up, showing she had no weapons. "My name is Sheque, and I am the Goddess of Time, as this glass painting shows."_

_                Yusuke looked beneath his feet, "All this really happened?"_

_                "Yes," she said and pointed to a picture to his right. "The Black Plague of Europe is documented there, the World War there." She stopped and pointed to one at the center of the piece, "And there is your victory of Raizen there." _

_                Yusuke looked and indeed, there was the shattered image of himself standing over a fallen Raizen. He looked around and saw all the other images she pointed at. They were all there. Everything from the past was there. Suddenly, his eyes fell upon a rather disturbing image of a white male and female battling a black male and female, one pair with wands, the other with glowing hands, humans and demons beneath them as their powers collided in the center._

_                "What is this one about?" Yusuke asked, pointing. "It looks like a war, but I've never heard of one that would resemble the image."_

_                Sheque's eyes dimmed and became solemn as they looked upon that piece of time. "That is the image depicting the war between the powers of wand and spirit. It was made so that humanity forgot it happened, but sadly it cannot be erased from time, and the gods cannot forget."_

_                "And you're showing me this, because?" Yusuke asked, now confused and annoyed. He hated dreams like this._

_                Sheque's eyes flared suddenly, burning, "Yusuke, you may be a demon lord, but I am a goddess! Do not forget how insignificant you are in the eyes of the tapestry of the universe!" Yusuke fell back a step at her anger. She calmed quickly though and moved on, "But I shall hurry, for Lorliefiti will not let me stay much longer. The reason I am here is to warn you."_

_                "Warn me?" Yusuke spat. "If it's about Karasu and the Shishi you're a little late."_

_                "No," Sheque said, becoming very grave. "A war is brewing Yusuke. A war which will shatter the world as we know it. You, Yusuke, and your friends, including Harry, will soon be put to the test. If you fail, this world is doomed."_

_                Yusuke was startled. "WHAT THE HECK DOES THAT MEAN? AREN'T YOU GOING TO GO INTO DETAIL OR SOMETHING?!" _

_                Sheque just shook her head fading, "I cannot tell you. It goes against our laws. You must decipher everything for yourself, and I can only pray that Horiesoen guides you to the answers. Remember, the actions of you and your followers will determine the fate of this world, and everything contained within it." With that she was gone and Yusuke fell the ground as the tapestry that was the flow of time began to crumble, him falling with it._

*~*~*~*~*~*

                Yusuke awoke, sputtering and gasping for air, a pillow over his head held down by a heavy weight. He growled, "HARRY!" He wrenched himself upwards, a laughing Harry tumbling back off the bed, hugging his sides in laughter.

                "And you had such a scared look too!" howled Harry in delight.

                "Oh shut it!" snapped Hiei as he pulled a shirt on. "Come on. I want breakfast!" Harry and Yusuke shrugged. It was normal. Hiei was NOT a morning person. He stomped out of the room and Yusuke and Harry quickly dressed, following him down the Great Hall were breakfast was being served (porridge and the like).

                "Oh, my favorite!" Yusuke said in a mock tone of joy. He ladled some of the goop into a bowl and dug in, just as the mail was coming.

                With a bored look, Yusuke and everybody seated around Ron moved the breakfast plates to the side and lifted their porridge bowls up, just as Errol landed, skidding on the smooth surface, leaving a feathery trail behind him.

                "Wakes you up, don't it?" Yusuke asked, stabbing his spoon into Errol's ribs to make sure the bird was still breathing. Errol hooted weakly in response and stayed where he was, sticking out a leg with a small parcel tied to it.

                Suddenly, there was a loud screeching above in the rafters and everyone looked up to see Ookami diving towards Hiei, two large birds diving and swirling, jabbing and stabbing at one another. They broke apart and a loud, ringing screech filled the room. Yusuke gritted his teeth when he saw who the two birds were – Shinrai and Malfoy's eagle owl. 

                "What is your bird doing?" Malfoy yelled at Yusuke. "Why the heck is it attacking my bird?"

                "Don't know," Yusuke called back. "Did you say something nasty about me? Shinrai's not exactly the most tolerant of birds you know!"

                Shinrai screeched scraped against the eagle owl and broke away, a envelope clutched in its beak. With a shriek it gripped it in its talons and pulled back sharply, the envelope and the letter contained within shredded. The eagle owl screeched and suddenly dived. Shinrai back flapped and skidded out of the way, arched and came down, ramming his claws into the eagle owl. The owl hooted and skidded over to Malfoy, favoring a wing. The other owls began to hoot as Shinrai screeched in victory and then he descended to take a seat on Yusuke's shoulder, cooing. 

                "Good boy," Yusuke whispered and handed him some bacon. Shinrai took it and bounded away, followed by a swarm of hooting owls. Ookami remained on Hiei's head.

                When the excitement had calmed from the bird fight the students exited to their classes – and first was Herbology that day, with Slytherin and Ravenclaw (once again they would be shamed by Kurama). Yusuke and company had just gotten onto the lawns when a hand grabbed him and spun him around. Yusuke easily dodged the punch that came his way and jumped back lazily, smirking at Malfoy.

                "Do you know what your chicken did to my owl?" Malfoy screeched in rage.

                Yusuke shrugged, "It was their problem, not mine." By now a crowd had gathered, Pansy and Malfoy's gang glaring at Yusuke. They didn't know him like Malfoy did, which was the only reason Malfoy was not pulling his wand now.

                "My eagle owl will be grounded for a good three weeks!" Malfoy howled. "And he's my only bird I brought this year!" 

                "Well, have daddy send you a new one," Yusuke smirked.

                "Please, stop this! We need to get class!" Hermoine said, coming to stand by Yusuke, a frown on her face, but worry ringing in her eyes.

                Malfoy turned on her, "Stay out of this, Mudblood!" 

                There was a gasp and Ron stepped forward, "Take that back, Malfoy!" 

                "Why? What are you going to do?" Malfoy sneered.

                Ron held up his wand and pointed it at Malfoy, "Moutious Sluggis!" There was a bang and Ron fell back to be caught by Harry and Kurama, his face place and slightly green. 

                "Ron? Ron you okay?" Harry demanded, slapping his cheek a little as the red head seemed off in another world.

                There was a sick growling sound from his stomach and then from his mouth he retched a slug. The girls gasped and the Slytherins howled. "What happened?" Yusuke asked. "What did you call Hermoine?" He said this is unison with Harry, both glaring at Malfoy.

                "First, his wand backfired!" Malfoy howled. "And second, I think it's rather pathetic you don't know what that means." 

                "KISAMA!" Yusuke spat at him and clenched his fist. Kurama was standing next to Yusuke and set a restraining hand on his shoulder. Yusuke relaxed.

                Kurama eyed Malfoy, "I see. Well, we'll be going now." With that he turned Yusuke around and dragged Hiei with them. Both came willingly though when they felt Kurama's surge of spirit energy.

                Malfoy spat onto the ground and took a step forward, only to fall back in pain, hugging his now bleeding foot, Kurama and the others snickering. Hermoine and Harry were supporting Ron as they trudged to Hagrid's cabin, the other three promising to cover for them. 

                "And they're not helping because?" Hermoine asked as she worriedly looked at Ron.

                Harry shrugged, "Kurama got us revenge, so they did their part." Hermoine frowned, but said nothing more and helped Ron to Hagrid's hut. 

*~*~*~*~*~*

                Karasu's eyes sprang open and he leapt up in bed, breathing heavily. He put a hand to his face and calmed himself. "So, is that how it must be then?" There was a racking pain through his mind as the answer came.

                _You must teach them! You must show them the way to the answers! _

                "And what of Shishi?" Karasu asked. 

                _He will be given the same orders. Start as soon as you can figure a way to lure them into it. _

                "Yes sir," Karasu said and laid down again, the pain vanishing with the speaker. So, that was how it would begin. 

*~*~*~*~*~*

Right, for those of you who don't know, I shall explain who Karasu and Shishi are.

Karasu – Karasu was part of the Toguro team in the Dark Tournament and Kurama fights him the finals. Their fight was voted one of the best in the Yu Yu Hakusho series. Shishi – Shishi fights Genki in the semi-finals of the Dark Tournament and is beaten by here. I believe he then moves on to train under her later in the series. I'm not sure. 

As I said, when looking for chapter ten, my name will by then be Blaque Midnyte. So have fun, and until next time!

~ Kyen 


	10. Raising Flags

Right, sorry it took so long to update. My Internet connections were wigging out, and I was working on two other fics, and trying to get them up. Anyway, moving on. YOU PEOPLE WHO DON'T GET IT! GENKAI WAS WISHED BACK! SHE IS ALIVE! SHE COMES BACK! I KNOW OF WHAT I SPEAK!  AND SECOND – I KNOW KARASU DIES! BUT I WANT HIM IN THIS, SO HE SHALL BE IN THIS! GOT IT?! 

**And second, for those of you who have not, could you please check out the fic _Burning Christmas Trees and More Random Insanity_? If you don't, I will not update! I had better see some improvements of the review numbers on that thing or else! My co-author is getting cranky because of that and when she's cranky, I can't write, so you had better do it! BWHAHAHAH!!!!!**

**Anyway, enough with my nonsense. On we go!**

Raising Flags 

            The dark forest was shrouded in shadow, mist clinging to the branches of the trees, the moonlight turning patches of grass silver. The centaurs shivered in the cool air, brushing against one another as the temperature continued to drop. The younger fillies and colts snorted and stomped next to their parents as they scented their caller coming closer. 

                "I am glad you all could make it," the caller said and out of the bushes slid a silver fox, sporting nine lustrous tails, ruby eyes gleaming in its slender head. 

                "Why is it you call us, Yoko?" demanded one of the elders.

                The fox shook itself, dew going every which way, its coat shining in the dim moonlight, "Because I am can." 

                "What is it you demand of us?" asked a mare quietly, stomping her hoof.

                "You can read the stars, yes?" the Yoko asked, its tails flicking as it sat on its haunches, red eyes glaring at them all.

                "Yes," the first elder to speak said with caution in his voice.

                "Good," the Yoko cooed. "Then read them, and tell me when my brothers and sisters plan to make their first move." 

                The elder snorted, "That is preposterous! We cannot do that!" 

                The Yoko suddenly rose and its eyes flared, "Remember who you are dealing with! I must know! I must time everything to them! If not, then you shall be the first race I destroy!" 

                The elder snorted and took a step back. "As you wish," he said and bowed.

                "Then go!" the Yoko screeched, loosing its patience. "Return here in three nights with your answer, understood? If you do not, I have other ways of making sure you do." It glared at the young ones among the group and then slid away, leaving the centaurs to start their newly assigned work. 

*~*~*~*~*

                Kurama shuffled his feet nervously, waiting outside the Karasu's office door. He had been asked to come to the office after dinner during the class. Kurama would have argued and refused, but, seeing as Karasu had a higher positioning then him on the scale at the school, Kurama could not. 

                The door clicked and Karasu's head pocked out of the door, "Come in."

                Kurama took a deep breath and stepped in. The room was draped with black silk over the windows and Kurama saw behind the ash wood desk Karasu was seated behind was a shield, two swords crossed atop it, two crows flanking them with wings spread, beaks open in silent cries. The rest of the room was decorated with chairs, a fireplace and several bookcases. Not much else. Karasu made a motion with his hand and Kurama felt a chair nudge him in his knees, causing him to fall back and flop down into the soft satin cushion. 

                "What did you need to see me for?" Kurama asked Karasu as the man marked his place in a book and then shut it, folding his hands together and turning those cold eyes of Kurama.

                Karasu sighed, "You wanted to know what Shishi and myself were doing here, right?"

                Kurama blinked, "Well yes, that was on my 'Things to Find Out' list this year." 

                "Well, you will soon get your answers," Karasu said simply, drumming his fingers now. "You know the full moon appears in three days, yes?" 

                "Of course. The Youko is loath to let me forget," Kurama replied steadily. 

                "Good," Karasu purred and slid something to Kurama. Kurama picked it up, noting it was a small chain necklace, a silver cast fox head the only ornament. "Go to the Forbidden Forest on the night of the full moon and follow the trail set for you. He will be waiting there." 

                "Who's 'He'?" Kurama asked.

                Karasu shrugged, "He is my master, the one who set me free, who convinced Dumbledore to bring me here and work under…under Lockhart." 

                "I see," Kurama sighed, though in his head he made as much sense of that statement as Yusuke did of his math homework. 

                Karasu waved his hand, "I shall see you Wednesday, in class." Kurama nodded and left, fingering the cool silver of the fox head. 

*~*~*~*~*

                "I don't know Kurama," Yusuke said in the library as he flipped through the pages of a book. "I mean, Karasu isn't, well….exactly the nicest of guys. Last time we meant him he was out to kill you!"

                "Shhhh! I know!" Kurama hissed. "But this time I don't think he's lying! He wouldn't try something under Dumbledore's nose!" 

                Yusuke rolled his eyes, "He could and he would! Or have you forgotten that Spirit Magic has advantages over Wand Magic? And last time I checked, Karasu was defiantly a Spirit Magic user!" 

                Kurama sighed, "I still think I should at least try to go with what he says." 

                Yusuke growled, "Fine! But if you die, do not expect me to avenge you!" With that he snapped the book shut and put it up, stomping away. 

                Kurama sighed and put his own book up before heading out of the library back to his dorm. Without thinking he said the password and walked in swiftly and gracefully, sauntering up this room and flopping onto his bed, fingering the necklace hidden within his pocket that Karasu had given him only a few hours before. 

                Kurama breathed in the scent of his moon lotus plants, glowing softly by the window in their watery pots, and closed his eyes. Images began to flash before his eyes. He saw the woman he had fought during the first year, and her wolf demon creature. He saw Jin and Touya disappear as they went to their own fights, he remembered transforming to save the dragon that then aided Hiei. He remembered the worry that had worn him out when Yusuke had gone to fight the last battle. Then he saw it, the fox. He remembered clearly the words the fox had spoken to him when he blacked out during the fight with the Earth Master, and he remembered how the fox had mysteriously appeared and delivered the vials containing the revival and animagus potions. He remembered how it had inspired awe, a sense of immense power, and a reverence. 

                He remembered the Youko.

*~*~*~*~*

                "Well?" it demanded, shining tails curled around its slim body as it awaited the decree of the centaurs. "What can you tell me?" 

                The eldest centaur stepped forward, silver hair matted against his face as sweat poured down his haunches. He had run fast and hard to reach the fox on time, and was glad he had. The fox had somehow managed to gain one of their young centaurs and the fox was ready to make dinner of it when they had crashed into the clearing. 

                "War is coming," he said. "A war that will shake the heavens and the earth." 

                "Tell me something new," spat the fox. "I already know this! Tell me something useful!"

                The centaur snorted, "Well, I can tell you that the Lord of Wand Magic and the Lady of Spirit Magic are beginning to quarrel. They were once brother and sister, now mortal enemy." 

                The fox sniffed, "Then the first phase has begun, one She will take full advantage of. What else did you see?" 

                "We saw that soon, chosen souls shall be tormented as the gods demanded to take a side," the centaur huffed. "We see…we see souls destroyed and bonds shattering as the gods play their game of war." 

                The fox nodded, "I see. You may go." The centaurs reared and left, the young filly the fox had stolen running with them. With a sigh, the fox went to the base of a tree and slithered in, running down the hole, morphing at the same time. 

                "So, Sheque and Fisron have placed their bets," he said softly. "Then I suppose the others will begin to place theirs as well." By others he meant the other gods and goddesses who were taking part in this war. He sank into a cushion and lapped at some wine, "And She has already made her move, perhaps very well a checkmate in this game." 

*~*~*~*~*

                Cormahs grimly stared through the dark waters at the scene before her. She growled and slashed at the water, to no avail. The image only dissipated, but the person whom it showed did not bleed. She hated that god so much! She was the Goddess of Shadow Magic, and here he was, God of Trickery and Deceit, and he was playing her like a fool and reading her like an open book! It was humiliating, disgusting, and frustrating all at once!

                "Why in such a foul mood?" Voldemort hissed as he watched the Goddess take her anger out on the black water of her scrying bowl. 

                Cormahs turned to him, "It is nothing a mere mortal should worry about."

                "He is coming for the fox, isn't he?" Voldemort asked her.

                "Yes!" she spat. "He is coming for him and I cannot stop him! I cannot compete with him! Though the daughter of Dreasli I may be, he is the son of the Fox God, God of Thieves, Bandits, Pirates, and of Lies and Traps!"

                "Why can you not compete with that?" Voldemort asked.

                Cormahs growled, "Because the second I make a move, he will begin to calculate a counter move! He is of Trickery and Deceit! He will see through the move and then decipher it and sell the information to my brothers and sisters, even my own parents!" 

                "So? Why not let ME make the move instead," Voldemort hissed. "Whom do you cheer for in this war?"

                "Cheer for?" she snorted. "I am a player, dear Voldemort."

                "But if you were not, which side would you choose?" he asked.

                "Spirit Magic, of course," she said. "Wand Magic always did pale before it."

                Voldemort chuckled, "Well then, I can remove the gods top little candidate for Wand Magic then. With him out of the way, I can recover faster and you can set this war in motion and win it as well." 

                Cormahs perked up, "You mean, tip the odds in my favor, yet not have to reveal me plans?" 

                "It is the joy of having an ally," Voldemort smirked. 

                Cormahs grinned, "Oh, yes, indeed it is." She slid over to him and stroked one claw near his slanted eyes, "So, tell me, dear Wizard, how do you rid oneself of a Wand Magic menace?"

                Voldemort smiled wickedly as he laid out his plans, Cormahs giving him favor as she cackled her glee. 

*~*~*~*~*~*

                Sheque watched as something stirred within the dark bowels of Hogwarts. She watched as it writhed, as its muscles rippled. She watched as the little girl walked to it, she watched as she hissed something. She watched. 

                She watched as it went off to kill. 

*~*~*~*~*~*

                Oh, that was exciting! Yippee! Anyway, until next time, this Blaque Midnyte, signing off! (That was dorky). 

Bai bai!

~ Blaque Midnyte


	11. And So, It Begins

OKAY! LOOK! YOU PEOPLE WHO WANT MORE HIEI – LET ME GET THROUGH THIS! I NEED TO DO THESE WORK UP CHAPTERS! AND IF YOU READ MY LAST FIC THEN YOU KNOW THAT I GO THROUGH LITTLE CHARACTER STAGES AND RIGHT NOW IT IS KURAMA OKAY?! GET OVER IT! ALL OF YOU! HIEI HAS NEVER BEEN MY FAVORITE CHARACTER, AND RIGHT NOW I AM WORKING WITH KURAMA, SO JUST GET OVER IT AND DEAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

***pant pant* Right, now that I have that taken care over, sit back and read or you can wait for some more Hiei. I don't care which! And you don't have to insult me cause there's no Hiei. Honestly, you people know how I work!  So either get over or don't – your choice. Hiei will come in time, alright? **

**Right, now be good little boys and girls and sit and read. **

"And So, It Begins" 

            "Kurama, I know you sometimes take risks, but this is insanity," Hiei spat at the fox that morning at breakfast. Yusuke had decided to skip and they were sitting far from the others, Harry keeping Ron and nosy Hermoine away from them. Harry knew how important it was for them to figure out why the ex-I'm-going-to-kill-you people from the Dark Tournament were here. 

                "I know it seems insane, but I really think Karasu is telling the truth this time!" Kurama snapped. He slammed down his spoon and glared at Hiei, "Why are you and Yusuke both treating me like I don't know what I'm doing?" 

                Hiei snorted, "Have we forgotten already about the celestial calander? Tonight is the full moon and we all KNOW what happens then. Yoko is not exactly the most sane of people when it comes right down to it, or have we forgotten some of your latest escapades?" 

                Kurama blushed. Over the summer Kurama had let Yoko run a little wild and in the end had robbed near seven jewelry stores and was wanted all around the Tokyo area. Not a good way to make a name for himself. He had also robbed an antique store and the Jewel Bank on the north side. He had managed to stash it in Spirit World and cash in some of them for money (after, of course, making them look different then ones he'd stolen), but there was at least twenty-five million dollars worth of stuff still left in Spirit World even while he ate. 

                "I see we haven't," Hiei snorted. "And that's why we don't want you doing this. Not you, really, but the Yoko." 

                Kurama sighed. He knew they were right, but he had a hard time resisting the Yoko when so close to a transformation. Yoko was already enticed by the prospect of what Karasu had said, and curiosity was not one of Yoko's stronger points. In fact, it was what had gotten him into trouble in Spirit World quite a few times. 

                "Well, see you in class then," Hiei said and got up to leave. He turned back and pointed at Kurama, "And Yoko, if you go tonight, make sure to bring Kurama back alive, got it?" With that he turned and left Kurama to finish his porridge, though his stomach detested it and he knew by morning his mouth would bare the aftertaste of raw blood and meat. 

*~*~*~*~*

                Harry looked out the window during break, thinking hard, but not about homework. Things were getting very weird, and they were only in their third week of school. He sighed. Hanging out with Yusuke and people had proved to be a pain. 

                He gasped as he scar seared with pain and his books clattered to the ground on the dorm. No one was in there thankfully, but Harry knew what Yusuke would say. It would be along the lines that he worried too much and that he had nothing to worry about. He had Spirit Magic, and it had the advantage over Wand. Harry always had to point out to Yusuke all he could do was use a shield, and a weak one at that, and he specialized in Wand. Yusuke always shrugged it off and Hiei was silent as ever. He never talked much during the school year, as Harry had found out last time. 

                And then there had been that dream a few nights back. He didn't fully understand it. A man had appeared before him, a little older then him, yet so much older, all at once. It was uncanny. He had said something about a war coming, and that he faced another test. If he passed, then everything would become clear. If he failed, then he would be caught in the middle, and more then likely wind up dead. Harry didn't like the prospect, but neither had the man been very descriptive. He had said something about it was illegal, and he slightly remembered something about choosing sides, but that was all, nothing more. 

                "Blood! I demand blood!" 

                Harry started. Where had that come from? He looked around and listened. He crept to the wall and placed his ear against it, listening hard. He reared back when he heard very loudly in his ear. He clutched it and felt moisture. He pulled back his hand and saw red liquid there. The sound had been loud enough to make his ears bleed? How could that be? If that he been, they why wasn't anyone else coming to the dorm to see what was wrong? 

                Harry sat down on the bed, his books forgotten, his bleeding ear forgotten, as he listened to the voice demanding blood. 

*~*~*~*~*

                Draco glared at Yusuke and his friends from the back of the classroom. How could they humiliate him like that? And Kurama pulling the same trick as the first time too? He scribbled with his quill furiously, taking notes as Professor Karasu talked about the dangers of a siren's song. 

                Draco had to admit, Karasu was his kind of person – he was like Snape in way, he did not like Harry or his friends – but what really set him apart from his favorite teacher was the man didn't like him, nor did he favor anyone, as Snape did. Karasu was an utter mystery to him, and he seemed to be connected to Kurama, which made matters worse. 

                He had written to his father about the developments, but had not received a comforting reply. The letter he had received stated:

                Whatever you do, do not anger Karasu! My connections in the Japanese Magic Ministry had told me that both him and the man you named Shishiwakamaru, are very dangerous, high-class level demons released to Dumbledorer. They were recently in prison – Karasu for the attempted assault on one of the Maikai Lords, Yomi – I believe, and Shishiwakamaru was sent to prison for the theft of an ancient artifact, though its name was not released to me. 

_                Be wary as well of Yusuke and his friends once more. This time things are much different. I have learned from the Ministers of Chinese, Japanese, and even South American Magic that the balances are shifting. Something big is about to happen and you must stay alive to report it! Understood? Write back when you have figured out more then I on this 'shifting'._

                Draco growled again and returned to his work, not forgetting to note that Karasu was giving him a rather cold glare, as if he knew what he was thinking about.

*~*~*~*~*

                Genkai started as she sipped her tea. She set the cup down and walked outside, a hurried wind screaming in her ear when she opened the door. Something was very wrong. She could sense it. She turned her eyes back to within her temple and watched the statue of Buddha. 

                Genkai's eyes widened when she saw a crack begin to form. It went right down the middle, but the statue did not fall apart. The wind screamed again and then was gone, nothing more. Not a stone was out of place on the stature, save for the crack, but Genkai was trembling.

                She couldn't remember the last time she had felt something this tremendous. The last great war that had happened had been between the Netherrealm and Maikai, but this was nothing compared to the energies seeping through the crack in her statue. 

                "So, you all…have decided," she said. There was a sudden rush of energy and Genkai bowed in order to stay on her feet from the sudden burst. The energy faded, but the crack remained, and suddenly, her statue was in two pieces, on either side of the pedestal. Two perfect halves, except to the holes in the center of each where they had been split. 

*~*~*~*~*

                Kurama looked back at the sleeping figures of his younger second year mates, assuring himself they were truly asleep. When he was sure his assessment was correct, he threw open the window and launched himself out, turning into a rolling flip as he did.  

                He felt wind rush by him, and he felt freedom and pain all at once. He rotated as he fell, Yoko quickly taking over. His spine elongated so his tail sprouted, his ears moved from the side of his head to the top, his hair grew long and silver, his nails became claws, his eyes turned gold, his sensed heightened, and his clothes ripped to shreds, only to be replaced by the smooth silk Yoko preferred. By the time he landed, on his feet, Kurama no longer stood there, but Yoko Kurama.

                Yoko felt around his neck, satisfied when he felt the cool chain and pendant of silver. Assured it was there, he sprang to his feet and flew across the grass towards the woods. He felt the branches scrape his face and arms, but he paid them no heed. Karasu had been right. There WAS a path for him.

                Before him his eyes picked up faint traces of light, all shaped like arrows, and all pointing in one direction. He speed through the woods, following the arrows to a tee, the colors rapidly changing from a slight gold, to silver, to white, black and then they were gone and he was in a clearing. He sniffed and his eyebrows drew together. Odd, there was a faint trace of fox in the area. It was entirely plausible a fox lived in these woods, but the smell was different – it wasn't as musky. He smelled a trace of roses on it. How the world could that have happened?

                "When one washes themselves with rose petals it is usually the scent that you come out with," a voice said and Yoko started, so lost in his contemplation he had been.

                "Where are?" he asked.

                "Oh, come now, can you not see me? Bu then again, I am a master of disguise, as most foxes are," the voice said and the bushes on the other side rustled. Kurama steeled himself, but not for what came out. 

                From the bushes emerged the craziest thing he had ever seen. It was a fox, lean and gorgeous, shimmering silver with eyes redder then blood and a nine lustrous tails, waving about it like fans. As he watched the image slowly changed before his eyes. Now stood a black fox, then gold, then red, the white, then green, then dun. It was a myriad of colors the fox was going through, ever changing appearance, several times fading to the background, its eyes the only thing Kurama could make out. 

                It chuckled, "Sorry. Should I stick with one color?" It returned to silver and stayed stationary, but its tail continued to move like wisps of smoke in the wind. 

                "Who are you?" Kurama repeated.

                "Come now," the fox scoffed. "Certainly your memory is not that poor!"

                Suddenly, it hit. "Youko!" Kurama cried.

                "You can call me Kami-Kitsune," the fox said. "That name is far to similar to your own. Your friends might be confused when you talk of me." 

                "God-Fox?" Kurama said, translating the name. "Why the world would I call you that?"

                "Because it is what I am," Kami-Kitsune proclaimed. "Now, down to business, since the pleasantries are over. I suppose you want to know why you are here, yes?"

                Yoko Kurama shrugged, "Kurama guessed it was to save the world again." 

                Kami-Kitsune chuckled, "Well, you could call it that, to some degree."  
                "That does not answer the question," Kurama commented.

                "True," Kami-Kitsune agreed and sat down, wrapping its tails around it feet and haunches, and for a second Yoko thought it grew so he could look Yoko right in the eye from his lower stance. "So, I shall tell you straight off. You were summoned here because I have chosen you, or, more accurately, my father and I have chosen you." 

                "Father?" Kurama repeated the word.

                Kami-Kitsune nodded, "You would know my father as Kistrono, the Fox God."

                "So you are a god?" Yoko sputtered. 

                Kami-Kitsune nodded his pretty head, "Indeed."

                "Then why the form of a nine-tailed Yoko?" Kurama asked him. 

                Kami-Kitsune suddenly seemed annoyed, "Do you want to know why you are here or not? Because I can certainly leave you in the dark!" Kurama felt a rush on energy, and he was astounded. Kami-Kitsune really was a god! His powers were escalating off the charts, far beyond what Yusuke could produce.  "Oh yes, but Yusuke might well soon be producing this kind of power, if he can figure out Sheque's wary words."

                "You can read minds too?" Kurama gasped.

                Kami-Kitsune chuckled, but it wasn't pleasant, now it was more earthly, and a little darker, "Yes, and yours in like an open book, seeing as you are one of my father's and one of my creations." 

                Kurama stood his ground against this rather unnerving statement, "Still, that doesn't answer why I'm here!" 

                "Very well," Kami-Kitsune hissed, eyes narrowing, tails lashing violently. "I shall tell you why you are here. Maybe you will survive carrying the burden on your shoulders." 

                "Get on with it!" Kurama demanded. 

                The fox grinned. "You are here, Yoko Kurama, for one purpose – to fight!" 

                "That's it?" Kurama asked, not very impressed.

                The fox's grin widened. "But this, Kurama, is a fight you have never seen before! So many more powers have come into play, and let me tell you, if Yusuke does not choose the same path as you are about to, then you will be pitted against him and everyone else! This is war Kurama! And you, dear fox, are at the head of the army!" 

                "Path? War? What do you mean?" Kurama demanded as energy began to flow erupt from the fox and it began to morph. "What are you doing? What's happening?" 

                The energy continued to pour , but instead of a fox, it was emitting from fox man, like himself. Hair the color of midnight and the color of silver, both at the same time and yet not, poured down his back and eyes the color of blood were wide, a full lipped mouth grinning wickedly as thin robes of silver fluttered around feminine heels. Sharp ears twitched, encased in jewels, and slim, supple, clawed hands twitched as energy continued to erupt. 

                "Choose Kurama! It is time! Who shall you follow? The path of Spirit, or the Path of the Wand? Be careful, for whichever path you choose is the only path you may run, and if one friend does not choose the same, it will be your hand that takes their life!" the man cried, whom Kurama could only assume was the human form of Kami-Kitsune. 

                "I-I-I," Kurama stuttered, not comprehending. His brain refused to admit what he knew was happening, what he knew would happen after the war with the Netherrealm. 

                "Well?" Kami-Kitsune demanded, nearly screaming the question as more power swept through the clearing, driving Kurama to his knees. 

                "I don't know!" Kurama screamed back. 

                Kami-Kitsune frowned and struck out. Kurama was sent flying, crashing through the trees the way he had come. He landed in a pile of wood and dust outside the woods, coughing violently as he tried to regain his breath. He blinked and there stood the fox once more, no longer the angry fox man whom he had seen only seconds before. 

                "Choose, Kurama. It is your destiny to choose," the fox said, his voice low and soothing. 

                Kurama lay there, panting, thinking. He did not notice the stares of centaurs, the glinting of a unicorn's horn, the cackle of a raven as they all waited. He was lost in his own thoughts, trying to find stable ground on which to stand. 

                Kurama knew if he choose wand he would be denying all he was, everything he had worked to be over the years. It would deny all his friends – Yusuke, Hiei, Touya, Jin, even his dead friend Kuronue. Yet it would show Harry he was a friend as well. But if he choose Spirit, it would be accepting who he was, fully uniting as Yusuke had learned to with his spirit. It would mean finally finding stable ground with his human and demon halves, and being able to come to terms with the deaths he had caused. Yet it would be something like betraying Harry, who he knew could not choose Spirit, though he had small command over the magic. 

                "Time grows short, Kurama. Choose," the fox insisted. 

                Tears struggled to the demon's eyes. He had never cried before, not even after the death of Kuronue. But for some reason this was deeper. It penetrated his cold heart, knowing that if he choose one or the other, he would in the end kill one, that is what he would do, if he had deciphered the fox's words right. That why it hurt. Because he had not been responsible for Kuronue's death, but this time around….he might be the cause of another. 

                Kurama felt a rough tongue on his cheek and blinked as he struggled up. The fox was licking its lips, ruby eyes staring. "Well?" it asked. 

                Tears poured freely now as he understood what he was doing, why he had to do it, and what he was doing it for. He was choosing it. He had to for it would be a crime beyond imagination to deny himself. He was doing it to justify the wrongs that he would commit because of it. 

                "I choose….Spirit," he said at last. The raven cackled louder then ever, the centaurs reared and shouted agreement or disagreement. The unicorns snorted and shook their heads, retreating back into the forest, the spectacle no longer their problem.

                "You are sure?" the fox asked him, cocking his head.

                "Yes," Kurama gasped. 

                "Very well. You are now under the high protection of Kami-Kitsune and Kistrono – the Fox Gods. And…you are now part of the war," the fox said and faded.

                Kurama lay there a little longer and then rose, tried and beaten. He limped back to the castle, with a heavy heart, and heavy shoulders. 

                Back within his den, Kami-Kitsune splashed his face with the rose scented water, tears of his own mixing with the droplets streaming down his face. He had hated doing that to Kurama, but it was necessary. He wiped his face and went to a mirror. He whispered a few words and a shining black fox appeared, diamond eyes blinking lazily.

                "And?" the fox in the mirror asked.

                "And so, it begins," Kami-Kitsune said. 

                "It begins," the black fox repeated, and with his words, the sky split apart. 

*~*~*~*~*

That was brutal! How could I do that?

Yusuke: Because you're the evil authoress who enjoys torturing us?

Well, yeah, that's probably it, but still. I so did not intend for it to be that long. *looks at the chapter again* Wow. That is REALLY long by my standards. You all should know that. Four and…er…a quarter pages? In size ten? Times New Roman? Oh dear….

Anyway! That's it for now! See you in the next chapter!

~ Blaque Midnyte


	12. The Rider's Face

Sorry it has taken so long for me to update! So terribly sorry! I had this thing going for a few other fics that I wanted to get stared or update before I returned to this one. Anyway, I don't have much to rant about, other then I am so proud of myself for doing that! I have never put such heartfelt angst into something! BWHAHAHAHA!!!!!

**Kurama: You're a sadist, did you know that?**

**Yup! Anyway, moving on to Chapter 12! And this might be a little short since I just came back from another major brain fart.**

**The Rider's Face**

The sun filtered into the room, caressing the curled up form of Kurama with its warming rays. Kurama groaned and rolled away from the light. It had been three weeks since the incident with Kami-Kitsune, and quite frankly things weren't as bad as the fox god had made them sound to be. Last night had been a sickle moon, and Yoko had been…feisty. 

                "Kurama," a boy said, pocking the fox demon in the side gently. "Kurama, wake up!" 

                Kurama rolled over and groaned again, his feet aching from the running Yoko had done. It had become official as of last night due to his rampaging that the school now knew there was some sort of spirit haunting the woods. They didn't know what, but they knew something was there. Kurama had been overflowing with joy when he realized a kid had seen his glowing silhouette from a window, and only when the girl had screamed. He had disappeared before she could summon her friends, but still!

                Kurama heard the boy sigh, but it was laced with something he couldn't place, not this early in the morning after a night like that. He growled when he felt smooth skin brush against his as it gripped the hem on the sheets and then flung the pillow at the person in annoyance as cold assaulted his body. 

                "I was sleeping," he growled.

                The boy was blushing as he looked over Kurama's delicate, feminine chest, "Sorry. But you would be late for breakfast otherwise." With that he disappeared. 

                Kurama blinked and looked at the clock, blanching. He pounced on his trunk and ripped out a pair of jeans and the first shirt he could find – a black, turtle neck, sleeveless, muscle-t. He slithered into it, ripped on his tennis shoes and leaped the railing on the stairs, tearing through the common room the Great Hall, leaving several people staring in blank amazement in his wake. 

                "Kurama, you look like you just ran a mile in the summer time," Yusuke commented as the fox took a seat with them. He rarely ate with the Ravenclaws anymore, not since he discovered his secret fan club. 

                "Yeah, well, I'm not used to waking up late," Kurama retorted.

                "Yoko still producing an after effect?" Hiei asked sarcastically when he noted the venomous undertone in Kurama's voice. "And, are you sure you want to wear that to Karasu's class today?" He indicated the rather tightly fitting shirt. 

                Kurama growled, "I am not in the mood!" 

                Harry plopped down right about then and snatched a piece of toast, buttering it and chewing mechanically. "What's wrong, Harry?" Yusuke asked, noticing the machine like movements he produced as he chewed and buttered another piece of toast.

                "Hermoine made stay up late to finish my homework, but it's not due till Wednesday!" Harry said as he popped the toast into his mouth and ladled some porridge into a bowl that appeared before him. 

                "Normally, I'd side with you, but just to let you know, today is Wednesday," Yusuke informed him and ducked as a spray of toast flew past him. "And, keep your food in your mouth! That is disgusting!"

                "Sorry," Harry gasped as he coughed. Kurama patted him on the back as he tried to swallow the remnants of his toast. 

                "Well, anyway," Hiei said, looking distrustfully as a bowl of peaches appeared on the table, "what are you going to do about Quiditch Kurama? I'm sure the team wants to see you fly again, but you were only a substitute for Ravenclaw, and that kid is back." 

                "I'm not trying out," Kurama said, shoveling porridge into his mouth. 

                "Sad," Yusuke replied. "I enjoyed watching that fan club of yours slaughter the Slytherins when they bad talked about you." 

                "That was fun," Kurama sighed. "But I prefer to stay on the ground. So, what class was the homework for?" 

                "Snape," snapped Harry. All three shuddered. Of course, Snape. Only Snape would do something like that – giving homework on a weekend. Professor McGonagall did the same, but at least it wasn't out of spite and not EVERY week.  

                Yusuke glanced at the clock, "Well, come on. We'll be late for Defense." Kurama shuddered and rose to follow them. 

                "Oh, wait, I forgot my books!" Harry cried when they had walked a quarter of the way to the class. 

                Yusuke waved his hand for the other two to go ahead, "I'll go with him. Save us some seats." The other two demons nodded and made their way to the dreaded class with Gilderoy and Karasu. 

                "Thanks for coming," Harry sighed. "I don't want to meet with Shishi alone." 

                "I know what you mean," Yusuke said. Shishi hadn't been much of a problem. He had kept mostly to himself and showed up in only one of Yusuke's classes. Other then that he had not had any arguments with Shishi, but it still drove him insane because he didn't know WHY he was there in the first place. It was the same with Karasu. 

                They came to the Fat Lady and Yusuke spat the password before she could even say it. They entered the common room and halted. Shishi was sitting in a chair, holding up Harry's book bag with a grin, "Forget something?" 

                "Uh, thanks," Harry said and grabbed the bag, scuttling out of the room, intending to wait outside should Yusuke pick a fight with the fighter. He might not have much spirit magic, but he had enough to feel when a fighter had more power then he did. 

                Shishi sat there, watching Yusuke watch him, maroon eyes flickering like little candles, "What? I haven't done anything wrong."

                "Why are you here?" Yusuke asked. "It's been bugging the crap out of me." 

                Shishi chuckled, "Sadly, I cannot tell you. And besides, it's my business, not yours, so butt out." Yusuke bristled, but knew attacking Shishi wasn't a smart idea and backed down. With a grunt he turned on his heel and left the room. Shishi took a sip of his drink from his cup as he left, "How much longer do you think I should keep him in the dark?"

                "At least until I can get to him," a voice said, soft, nearly inaudible. 

                "As you wish," Shishi murmured and picked up a spell book, thumbing through the pages. 

                Outside, the two boys were walking down the now deserted halls, the clack of their shoes echoing eerily in the halls. It was no surprise that when Nicholas popped out of the wall that both boys jumped and back pedaled at least twelve paces from the ghost, Yusuke on the verge of firing, but it would have gone through and just gotten them in more trouble then they already were for being late. 

                "Hello Nick," Harry said shakily, recovering himself.

                "Oh! Hello Harry, Yusuke," he said, nodding his head. 

                "What's up?" Yusuke asked, trying to be nice. 

                "Oh, well, just musing over what decorations to use for my five hundredth death day," Nick said in a low, distant voice.

                "Five hundred years?" Yusuke sputtered. "Lord, you're older then Genkai!" 

                "I should think so, I'm a ghost," Nick said, but it was laced heavily with a gloominess Harry could not ignore.

                "Why so down Nick?" he asked. Yusuke was ready to strangle him when he asked the question. Lord knew what that ghost would rope them into!

                "Oh, nothing. I just got rejected again for membership the Headless Hunt," Nick said with a sigh. He handed them a note. 

                Harry scanned it and Yusuke ignored it entirely, trying to contain his utter rage when Harry spoke next, "Wish there was something I could do Nick. I know it must be hard not to be excepted."

                "Well, there is something you and Yusuke could do," he said reluctantly. Yusuke could have shot Harry right then.  

                "What?" Harry pressed.

                "Could you…could you show up at my death day party as my guests?" he asked, hope rising in his voice. 

                "I don't see why not," Harry said with a smile. Yusuke just stood there, rigid, thankful Nick could not see ki, cause if he could then he would be seeing a raging blue fire right about then. "When is it?"

                "This Halloween!" Nick said excitedly. "So, I can tell everyone you're coming? And could you mention to Sir Patrick, the head of the Headless Hunt, that I am VERY frightening and scary?"  
                Harry had now frozen, his eye twitched as he realized what he had done and glanced at Yusuke, who was glaring darkly at him. "Uh…we'll be there."

                "Promise?" Nick asked him, the same ring of hope rising.

                "Promise," Harry said with a resigned sigh. When Nick disappeared, Harry found himself on the ground, a bruise forming on his head, and Yusuke stalking down the hall in rage. 

*~*~*~*

                "Oh, that was nice of you to offer to go to his death day party," Hermoine said with a smile. "I bet not many living people have gone to one of those! It will be fascinating!" 

                "Did I tell you it was on Halloween Night?" Harry asked them, ducking a piece of coal hurled by Yusuke at him. "Sorry! It's not like I knew it would happen!" he cried in defense.

                "I did and you're lucky I haven't strangled you yet!" he howled. "Be grateful I am helping supply the silks for your costume this year, even after you dragged me into that!"

                Harry cowered in his chair, looking pleadingly at Ron and Hermoine. Ron shook his head, "O' no! I am not coming to that! No! No!"

                "I say we go," Hermoine said quickly, watching Harry duck another piece of coal as he readjusted himself in his chair. 

                "What?" Ron howled.

                "Yes, do come," Yusuke grinned wickedly. Ron gulped and glared at Harry. Harry just sank lower in his chair, now attacked from both sides. 

*~*~*~*

                "We'll meet you in the ball room, okay?" Kurama told the four, brushing back his dueled colored hair. Kurama had decided to go again as the demon fox, even though he knew it might create a reaction from the girl who had seen his full demon form that one night. Hiei was dressed simply as a black clad ninja, which he performed well and acted like most of the time. 

                Yusuke had selected an outfit resembling one of the Shinobi, as Ron had the year before, and the other three were going as a fairy (Hermoine), an elf (Ron), and a fallen angel (Harry). Yusuke glared darkly again at Harry and then turned sharply on his heel, making for the dungeons were they had been told the party would be held. 

                They were greeted warmly, as warmly as a ghost could and they shuffled inside, many of the guests whispering when they saw Harry, and many eyed Yusuke, for he did not give off the friendliest of airs. Nick smiled as they looked around, "Please, fell free to try something." He indicated a table set with food.

                Yusuke snorted, "If it's a death day party, why did he set food out? Ghost can't eat." 

                "True," Hermoine mused. "I shall have to ask him about that." Her fake wings (supplied by Yusuke) shimmered as she walked around the table, fingering the tidbits. 

                All in all it was a rather boring party. The ghost floated around and seemed offended when you accidentally walked through them, and many of them refrained from getting within ten feet of Yusuke after he walked through a second ghost and cursed vividly. Harry remained as far from Yusuke as he could, since the spirit detective was tugging dangerously at the end of his anger leash and was ready to strangle Harry for putting him in this mess, which Harry sorely regretted now. 

                It was nearly five hours later of the dull and dreary party that Nick floated up to Harry, "I think I shall give my speech now. What say you?"

                "Do so, so I can get out of here," Yusuke hissed venomously from behind him. 

                Nick grinned shakily, "Yes, of course. Everyone! May I have your attention!" The ghost turned to stare at Nick, but their attention was quickly won over by a horn blaring. Nick groaned, "Here we go." 

                Yusuke grinned wickedly, "Joy, a hunting party. What's the prey today? Somebody's head?" 

Nick glared at the crude, and rather rude, pun. 

                A few seconds after Yusuke's comment, ghost horses hurtled through the walls, snorting and wispy manes flying, their riders carrying heads tucked under arms dressed in livery suited for the servants of the Queen of England. But this wasn't what freaked Yusuke out. 

It was the last horse and rider to come through the wall. Instead of being silver or icy blue in color, it was darker then the deepest shadows, and its eyes burned liked the pits of hell. Atop it rode a figure covered in a swirling mass of darkness that seemed to suck in the light and turn it upon itself. The only real part of the body he could see was the face. It was angelic, with sparkling hair that changed to all colors of the rainbow and eyes that flickered between red and blue. In stopped and Yusuke stared for a moment at the awesome figure, energy pouring from it. A smile spread across the figure's face and then the horse reared, screaming, flailing its hooves. It thundered towards Yusuke, and for the life of him he could not move. Then, at the last second, it vanished like vapor, nothing, as if it had never been. But the figure's face was firmly engrained within his head.

"Yusuke!" Harry hissed, shaking the older boy. "Yusuke!"

"What?" he asked, looking around.

                "Come on, while Nick is distracted," Harry hissed and gently pushed him back towards the door, nodding to the ghost who gave them looks, but the looks were more of jealousy then appall. Hermoine opened the door and they flung themselves out of the room, grateful. "Let's go! Hopefully there is food left. The stuff in there was gross! Where did he get it? His grandfather's grave?" 

                Yusuke had to laugh at this joke, but then looked down as his stomach gave a rather large growl. "Well, that settles it! On to the Great Hall we go!" 

                "Shut up!" Harry suddenly hissed, and Ron closed his mouth, ready to spurt a hearty agreement with Yusuke.

                "What is it?" Hermoine asked.

                "It's that voice," Harry said, his voice distant, as if he wasn't paying attention. He put his ear to the wall and reared back, but then began to scurry down the hall. 

                Yusuke frowned. He motioned for Hermoine and Ron to follow. He didn't know what Harry heard, but he could defiantly feel something…and it wasn't here for tea. The energy was defiantly not good, and he could feel something odd mixed into it. It wasn't human energy…but something different. A thought hit him. Could that rider have something to do with this? Yusuke's frown deepened and he picked up the pace to run even with Harry, Ron and Hermoine struggling to keep up behind him. 

                Harry cried out and clutched his right ear, the one closest to the wall, which now dripped blood. He ground to a halt, "It stopped." 

                "Yeah, it's gone, for now," Yusuke said. 

                "You could hear it too?" Harry asked, looking at Yusuke with hopeful eyes.  

                "I could feel it," Yusuke told him. "And it wasn't nice."

                "No, it defiantly was not," Harry said with a frown. The two started when a yowl came from not five feet away. They looked up the hall and saw Kurounue sitting there, golden eyes shimmering , tail twitching. 

                "Kurounue? What are you doing out of the dorm?" Yusuke asked him, bending on his knees and holding out his hand. "Come here." 

                Kurounue rose and meowed loudly and turned, looking back at them, his eye reflecting something like urgency. Harry looked at Yusuke and they nodded, starting off after the sleek black cat. Behind them Ron and Hermoine threw their hands up in exasperation, starting after them again. 

                "What the hell?" Yusuke cried when they rounded the corner. Kurounue was sitting there, on one side of a pool of water, eyes narrow and looking up. Hanging from a torch bracket set in the wall was a grungy cat with blood red eye – Ms. Norris. Kurounue meowed and his tail twitched. 

                "What could have done that?" Harry asked in awe.

                "Look!" Hermoine cried and pointed. Their attention was diverted to the wall, and their eyes widened. On the wall was scrawled, in blood, 'THE CHAMBER HAS BEEN OPENED. ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE!". 

                "What the hell is going on?" Yusuke asked, suddenly overcome by uncharacteristic panic. He wished that Kurama and Hiei were here. He shook off the feeling as another voice cut through the void that was becoming his mind. 

                "Enemies of the heir, beware! You're next mudbloods!" shouted Draco Malfoy, his face alight and flushed, full of color for the first time since Yusuke had seen him this year. 

                Kurounue yowled and slapped his paw in the pool of water below Ms. Norris and vanished into the crowed, leaving the four alone to face almost the entire student body as it gathered to read the writing on the wall. And for one, Yusuke desperately wished he was not the center of attention. 

*~*~*~*

Again, sorry it took so long to update. Please enjoy the chapter and more is coming! Thanks for being good reviewers! Bye!

~ Blaque Midnyte


	13. Questions

Right. School starts Monday, the eighteenth, so you all know what that means: slower updates. I am sorry! I wish I could do differently, but my workload is probably doubled this year, so it will be harder for me to update because of homework and everything. Anyway, I will try and update as much as possible! Thanks for being so cooperative. And thanks to everyone who reviewed so far (and especially those who gave me presents!) Right, now, on with the…no, I won't ruin it for you. Just read. 

**Questions**

                The crowd rippled as people shifted from foot to foot, staring at the cat, which remained stiff as a board, blood red eyes wide in terror, and frozen in such a state. Murmurs swept through the halls like the whispering of the wind. Yusuke looked helplessly at Harry, Hermoine, and Ron and then his gaze swept through the crowd, searching for a comforting face. His eyes only meant horrified stares and the gleaming, mocking one of Malfoy. 

                Suddenly, the crowd parted, and Yusuke's hopes plummeted. Through the crowd marched the professors – Gilderoy, McGonagall, Dumbledore, Snape, and Karasu. To add to his misery, Filch was not far behind, and Kurounue led them all. Yusuke had a sudden impulse to kill the cat, but knowing what Kurama would do to him stalled such an outright action. 

                "What is going on here?" McGonagall demanded as the professors formed a semi circle around the four. Kurounue yowled once more and vanished into the crowd. 

                "Mrs. Norris!" cried Filch. "Look what they've done to Mrs. Norris!" 

                "But we didn't do anything!" Ron cried. 

                Dumbledore halted Filch before he could make another comment, "There is no proof they did do it." 

                Karasu was peering at the cat, "It seems to be a case of petrifaction. They are not old enough to know such a spell, yes?" 

                "I believe it is just a case of them being in the wrong place at the wrong time," Snape said, which made all four start and Malfoy gape and goggle at his favorite teacher. 

                "As do I," Dumbledore said and turned to the crowd. "Everyone, to your dorms!" The crowd grumbled and dispersed, Malfoy shooting a venomous glare at Harry and Yusuke, which was returned with equal force by both of them. 

                "Come with me to my office," McGonagall said curtly and turned on her heel as the other teachers looked over the scene of the crime. With a pale looked, Ron was first to follow McGonagall, and then came Harry and Yusuke, turning away from the awful scene that reminded them of the voice, for Harry, and the rider, for Yusuke. Hermoine was last time come, shaking her head, eyes wide as she marched down the hall, as if disbelieving she had just been called to a professor's office. 

                They gathered inside the professor's room, anxiously awaiting her verdict. For a moment, all McGonagall did was sit in her chair, head on hands, and seemed to be thinking. Her usually neat hair had a few stray strands and they all noticed just how tired she looked right then, as if she had woken from a nightmare had hadn't been able to get to sleep since. 

                She interlaced her fingers and looked up at the four seated before, "Now, Urameshi and Potter, tell me…what happened?" 

*~*~*~*

                Kurama was holding Kuronue to his chest, frowning, the black cat's tail twitching as he stroked absently. Suddenly, he stopped and looked up, facing the doors that led to the grounds outside. Why was the cat attacked…or, petrified? Wasn't that what Karasu had said the cat had been? What could have done that? Kurama might have been over three hundred years old, but even he did not know everything, and western beasts were not among his many revenues of knowledge. What could have done this? Did Kami-Kitsune possibly know?

                "So, you in on it, fox?" a voice sneered from behind the red head. 

                Kurama turned calmly to face the blonde boy behind him, green eyes narrow as he stared down at the young boy, "What do you mean?" 

                "The writing on the wall," Malfoy snapped. "What are you and your demon buddies up to now? What have you brought into this world now?" 

                Kurama turned to face Malfoy fully, suddenly overcome by contempt. He stared down his nose at the boy, eyes narrow, as if he were a bug. He continued to stroke Kurounue, who stared down at the boy with the same monarchy look as Kurama now as. "Do not play games with me Malfoy," Kurama hissed slowly. "Either answer me or run. What do you mean?" 

                "I know all about what happened last year," Malfoy spat, suddenly afraid. He could feel something was not right with the fox. That look in his eyes was not his own. "My dad knows all about. The officials in Japan told him." 

                Kurama chuckled and turned away from him, heading up the stairs towards his dorm, where as Malfoy would have to head back down the way he had come, "Your father may have contacts, but you will never understand the complexities behind what make our power so much greater then yours." With that he disappeared around a corner and Malfoy was left to seethe. 

*~*~*~*

                Hiei watched with concern in the rafters as the two talked. Something was different about Kurama. Hiei as sure something had happened when he had stopped at the door, before Malfoy came around the corner. Hiei suddenly had a nasty suspicion the fox had not told them everything that had happened on one little excursion in the woods.

*~*~*~*

                "Well, we had just left Nick's death day party," Harry began, "when I heard something, from behind the walls. I don't know why no one else heard it. It was very loud, very clear and…and very dark." Harry put a hand to his ear for a moment, remembering the blood that had poured from it that one time in his room, and now. "Also…my scar…it…it flared for a second when the voice rose to its highest pitch, and my ear also bled then too, the one closest to the wall." 

                "I see," McGonagall said, closing her eyes for a moment. "And what of you, Mr. Urameshi?" 

                Yusuke thought for a moment, "Well, we had just left, as Harry said, when Harry told us to shut up, and right then, I was hit with this wave of…" he paused and thought again, shivering, "sort of animalistic, bloodlust filled wave of energy. It wasn't right in front of me, nor was it behind or directly to the side. It kept moving, but it felt like something was blocking it…as if it was traveling behind the walls."

                McGonagall stopped him there and her eyebrows knitted together as she ingested the information, "Mr. Potter, what did the voice say? Do you remember?" 

                "It wanted blood," Harry said immediately. "It wanted blood, really bad." A shiver shook his whole body visibly and he wrapped his arms around himself, as if suddenly cold. 

                McGonagall nodded and turned to Ron, "And you, Weasley, what did you hear or feel?" 

                "Nothing," came the reply. The same was with Hermoine. 

                The Professor nodded and motioned for the two to rise, "You two may leave. I need Potter and Urameshi to stay behind a little longer." With worried glances, the two left the office and headed back to their dorm, leaving the other two before the merciless stare of McGonagall. "You have heard this before Potter?" 

                Harry nodded, "Once, in my dorm room, before breakfast. It was saying the same thing, but it remained…as if it was circling my room. It did that weird high-pitched screech and my scar flared, and my ear bled. I was surprised no one else heard it, because it was extremely loud to me." 

                "Did you feel it at any other time then this?" she asked, addressing Yusuke.

                Yusuke shook his head, "This is the first time, but I'm not overly sensitive to these kinds of things. Kuwabara is, but not me. I can really only sense things if they're above a C level. So either this thing can hide its energy, or it's a very low class when it comes to power."

                McGonagall sighed and was about to say something, when there was a knock and three new people burst in. One was Dumbledore, whom McGonagall seemed glad to see. Then came Karasu, black robes swirling, slender brows slightly furrowed. McGonagall seemed okay with his presence, but then the third came in, and her mood darkened considerably – Gilderoy. Both Harry and Yusuke groaned softly as the turquoise robed man tromped in, and Yusuke would have gladly shot him the moment his big mouth opened. 

                "Well, the cat was petrified and I could have reversed it then and there, but," he cast a glare at Karasu, "some people suggested we wait till the mandrakes are fully grown and ready to be harvested." 

                "I would have been one of those people," Yusuke hissed to Harry, who nodded in agreement. 

                "But in the meantime!" Gilderoy cried and put a hand on Harry's shoulder, "How are you two holding up? Okay? Don't need anything do you?" 

                "No, no," Harry said hurriedly. "We will be fine."

                "Alright," Gilderoy said, sounding hurt. Yusuke cast Harry a very dark glare, a warning of what was to come should he so much as sympathize with the arrogant man they called a 'professor'. Harry shook his head up and down slowly, and Yusuke's face lightened as the next person spoke. 

                "I think we should let them go, yes?" Karasu said softly. "A rough night they have had. Sleep will do them good." 

                "Of course," Dumbledore nodded and the two got up and left, gratefully. Gilderoy nodded and went after them to 'escort' them back. Dumbledore closed the door to McGonagall's office and turned to the two professors still there. 

                McGonagall turned to Karasu, "You are like Mr. Urameshi, yes?"

                "How so?" Karasu returned. 

                "You _feel_ energy," McGonagall clarified. "Did you…have you sensed what Yusuke has?" 

                Karasu frowned (which made him look very feminine) and crossed his arms over his chest, "The truth is, Minerva, though both he and I can sense things, that ability is limited. I have not sensed anything, but I know something is wrong." 

                "As do we all," Dumbledore cut in. "Karasu, please, keep and eye on out for anything like what those two described. Please tell Shishiwakamaru this as well when you next meet him." Karasu bowed and left, leaving the two professors alone, though whether or not they found out about the beast crawling around the castle was one of the last things on his mind.

*~*~*~*

                Shishi shoved a cup of hot cocoa over to Yusuke and sipped his, staring down into the dark liquid, "I felt it too." 

                "I thought you might," Yusuke said, his voice edged with venom and his body stiff as he held his cup, letting the warmth flow into his hands and through his body.

                Shishi sighed, "Yusuke, please, I am not out to kill you! I am here to help, as if Karasu." 

                "Alright, fine, I'll pretend to believe that," Yusuke spat. "Now, what did you want to see me for?" 

                Shishi was silent a moment before, "Has Kurama told you anything? Anything at all about what has happened the past few weeks when he is Youko?"  

                "No, why? Did something happen?" Yusuke asked after swallowing his gulp of hot chocolate. He was staring intently at Shishi. 

                Shishi sighed, "I cannot tell you much, but he can. Perhaps He will let him do so. All I can tell you is to be wary. Big things are happening Yusuke, very big things." 

                "What does that mean? Stop being so vague!" Yusuke demanded. 

                Shishi rocked the liquid in his cup back and forth and looked towards the window, the curtains drawn tight over it. For a moment he was silent, as if listening and then, "Go and look out the window, Yusuke." 

                Yusuke frowned and went to the window, determined to find out what Shishi was talking about, no matter how vague he was. He tugged on the rope that pulled the curtains apart and his cup feel to the ground, shattering and staining the carpet brown, "What the hell?" 

                Shishi turned his head away from the window as Yusuke stared. It was near midnight, and the whole sky should have been black, kissed with stars and the moon's face staring down on earth from the center of the sky. It was not so. One side of the sky was black, the other was the exact opposite – white with a black stars and half of the moon, turned black, against it. 

                The sky was split. 

*~*~*~*

                Hey! I am so sorry it took me so long to update! Like I said, school stared and I have had a lot of homework and my little sister has been hogging the computer, so it's been hard for me to get on, even on weekends (curse evil algebra class! *pounds table and cries*) Anyway, hopefully I can get another chapter up this week – both of this and my Harry Potter/BeyBlade cross over fic (I have ignored it so…) Anyway, until next time! This is Blaque Midnyte, over and out!

~ Blaque Midnyte


	14. Shadow In the Wings

***Hugs the computer* I AM BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sorry it has taken so long to update, but I have had so much school work (CRAP SCHOOL!) and my sis has hogged the comp. *glare* But, anyway, I had a cool Saturday. First we went to the art store and bought $300 worth of copic markers and then I had a sleep over and died as I watched some of my fav anime! Gotta love the anime/Japan fans! All praise the lord for three day weekends! Whee!**

**And I have had a MAJOR brain fart! This is a comeback from it, so, please, be nice to me! *bows* Thanks! **

Shadow in the Wings 

                Cormahs glared down upon the sickly form before her. "Whatever you released, it has not done its job," she hissed at Voldemort with venom dripping from every word. 

                "It is starting," Voldemort snapped back. "It has been asleep for many years. It must go slow to gets it taste for blood going again."

                Cormahs snorted, "I could have sent something out and have this job done by now!"

                "Not with your dear sister watching in, and your brother too," Voldemort sneered. 

                Cormahs rounded on him, flinging him back into the chair with a wave of energy. "Watch thy tongue, Voldemort! I am dealing with more then my brother and sister! I am dealing with many more gods! I already know that my cousin has managed to draw one of the demons to his side, and he is therefore protected by his divine power! I cannot touch him, for now." 

                "What of the others? Of the two called Karasu and Shishiwakamaru? And Yusuke and Hiei? Surely you can dispose of them," Voldemort pointed out. 

                Cormahs frowned, "I can't take out Shishi and Karasu – they are under the command of my sister and I cannot risk to much of her ire right now. None of my underlings, except one, is strong enough to defeat Yusuke, but attacking him now is pointless. He is still far too confident, his spirit now broken enough. Kurama is out the question for a few more months, and then his patron must return to the heavens to restore his power. As for Hiei…he is a possible target." 

                "Well then, take him out. It will be killing to birds with one stone. If you defeat Hiei, then Yusuke will crack at the sight of his dead friend," Voldemort said calmly as Cormahs's face turned from one of ire to one of thoughtfulness. 

                "This is true," she said at last. Her face turned to a frown again, "However, I cannot move now. Another power is surrounding the castle, that of my brother. Until he leaves I cannot move less it undo all I have done so far, and then my plans will have to change, and that will be hard to do. I have struck many deals, and the ones who I have made it with will not be pleased should I have to change what they agreed to." 

                "Still, how do you know what your brother will do?" Voldemort asked.

                Cormahs smiled icily and she was suddenly cloaked in shadows that draped around her body loosely and her face was like that of the demon Karasu, "All a simple matter of infiltration and replacement." Voldemort smiled as Cormahs laughed and then vanished. This should be interesting. 

*~*~*~*

                "Oh, this is so exciting!" Hermoine squealed. "The first Quiditch match and against Slytherin! I know you'll beat Malfoy, Harry." 

                "Thanks," Harry said, butterflies fluttering in his stomach. This was the first match of the season and he hadn't been on a broom to practice his skills all summer. He hoped he would be okay. And it was against Slytherin. He would be eternally shamed if he lost! 

                Hermoine went to save seats for herself, Ron, Yusuke, and Hiei, leaving the other three behind. Yusuke smiled reassuringly at Harry, "You'll do fine."

                "Yeah! You'll kick Slytherin butt!" Ron said with a fist balled and wicked smile on his face, at least, as wicked as he could manage.

                "I hope you're right," Harry gulped. Hiei sniffed and Harry punched him lightly, "You could wish me luck." 

                "I find luck to be a useless word in the human vocabulary," Hiei snorted. Harry just shook his head and walked off as the others went to get their seats. 

*~*~*~*

                Karasu was walking down the hall to make his way to the Quiditch pitch when he was halted by a shadow…a shadow to his very likeness. He stared into his own eyes, his own face cocked  with dark eyes shining and mouth parted in a small, sinister smile. 

                Karasu frowned, "Sheque, if this is some kind of joke, let me know now." 

                His likeness chuckled coldly, "Oh, how you wish it were a joke." And suddenly, Karasu didn't like his likeness.

*~*~*~*

                The whistle blared and Harry kicked off the ground, circling, looking for the snitch as soon as his feet left the solid earth. From the stands, Yusuke and the other watched. The teachers watched with mild interest, and someone else watched too. In the shadows a figure watched, eyes gleaming. 

                "Go Harry!" Kurama called, caught up in the spirit of the game. 

                The crowd roared as the players flew around. Harry zigged and zagged, dodged and rolled. He felt tears sting his eyes as they wind lashed into his face, felt his robes fly back, felt his air whip around his head and face. He shot forward when he caught sight of a golden object, but it disappeared and he banked. 

                In the shadows the figure was laughing, "Come now Harry, show me just how good you are." The figure lifted a finger and a gold light flared, Harry shooting towards it. The figure just chuckled and watched. 

                Harry swung towards the flash of gold and dived. He heard, just barely, the commentary in the back by Jordan, and he could hear the screams of Hermoine, Ron, and Yusuke, even Kurama, as they cheered him on. He banked before he smashed into the ground and looked around again. Another flash. He dived and caught sight of Malfoy tailing him. With a grim smile Harry banked again and shot back, another flash of gold turning him towards the stands. It vanished and he banked upwards just in time, the girls in the crowd screaming, afraid he would bowl right into them. Thankfully, Harry wasn't the stupid. Unfortunately, the bludger was. 

                "Harry!" Kurama called from not twenty feet away where the Ravenclaw section started. His face was pale as the bludger barely missed Harry's head and those of the people in the stands. Malfoy was sitting, staring, and then laughing his head off. Kurama shot him glare and he closed his mouth, growing a sickly pale, paler then he already was, if that was possible. 

                "Who shot that?" shouted George from somewhere on the field. No one answered and the game resumed. 

                From the shadows the figure had lowered its finger and was watching the bludger as it flew around. A wicked smiled spread across the slim face, "Well, seems some one else is going to the work for me." With a soft sigh the figure melted into the shadow and reappeared in the Professor's Box…as Karasu. _Now, to help along that bludger. _

                "Where have you been Karasu?" asked Snape icily from beside him. 

                Gilderoy turned around and smiled brightly, "Yes, do tell. Harry has been going after the snitch and making some impressive moves." 

                "I'll bet he has," Karasu said in return. The teachers turned away as the crowd roared when Gryfindor scored and the Karasu took his chance. In a voice no louder then the whisper of the wind it began to chant, "I, master of the elements, plead the wind heed me, one and all! Heed my beck and call!" 

                In the game, Harry had sighted the real snitch, and dove to get it, Malfoy hot on his tail. Harry growled and reached out for the snitch, Malfoy pulling closer to him. Harry suddenly swung his broom towards Malfoy, keeping his eyes on the snitch and hand outstretched. Malfoy swerved heavily to the right and reared back, yet Harry remained on course. 

                In the stands, Karasu was smiling. He snapped his fingers quietly, and took delight in what happened next. 

                Harry's hand stretched out and the tips of his fingers felt the golden chill of the snitch and the feather light touch of its wings. He felt his fingers snap shut and he also felt something grab him. He seemed to slow down, as if chains had been hanged on him, and he felt the something wrap tight around his throat, a rippling laugh echoing through his ears. 

                "What's happening?" he gasped as he felt his fingers loosen their grip, felt the snitch try to break free. "No," he gasped, his vision suddenly blurring around the edges. 

                "Harry!" Yusuke screamed, his voice soon mimicked by Hermoine, Ron, and Kurama. Hiei watched silently, gritting his teeth. 

                The crowd suddenly fell into silence as they watched the bludger aim for him, and gasp rippled through it when they heard the sickening crunch of it connecting with his side. Harry could see the bludger coming out of the corner of his eye and tried to move, but couldn't, for the weight was still upon him. He watched, open mouthed as it hit him, and opened his mouth wider still to scream as the pain ran through him. 

                Suddenly, he was free and the bludger flopped to the ground, still and lifeless. That was the least anyone could say of Harry. Harry felt the weight suddenly leave him and he felt across the ground like a rag doll, bouncing and rolling across the grass, trying to scream anew every time he landed on his injured side. Finally, he came to a rest, blood dripping from his wounded side, vision darkened by blackness that was closing in rapidly. 

                "Harry! Harry stay awake!" a voice called dimly, as if sounding through a door. He felt hands gently pick him up, and he felt his cheek rest against a warm, strong chest. He suddenly realized how cold he felt and turned weakly to stare up at the face that held him. 

                "Hey…Kurama," he said weakly, his mouth dribbling blood. He could taste it and lapped at it eagerly when he dripped into his mouth. He was so thirsty that the blood tasted like the most succulent grapes. "I got….the…snitch," he added weakly. 

                "Be quiet!" another voice snapped. Harry was barely able to recognize it as that of Yusuke, but it was different, like something was caught in his throat. 

                "Let us through!" another voice bellowed and Harry was able to too make out the long white beard of Dumbledore through his blurred eyes. "How is he?" Dumbledore asked.

                Kurama looked up into the gentle eyes, "Not good. A broken arm, ribs, maybe eternal bleeding if one hit a lung, which I don't think it did. That, and sever bruising. That fall didn't do him any good." 

                "Take him to the hospital wing then," Dumbledore instructed. "Minerva, Gilderoy, go with him." The two teachers left as Kurama gently carried Harry away, who was fast slipping into a comatose like state as pain began to overflow his mind. 

                "And by the way," Kurama called. "Gryfindor won." This did little cheer anyone. 

                The crowds cleared, but all through it, Yusuke stood on the spot where Harry had come to land and watched one person – Karasu. He had come down with the rest, but he had shown no concern. In fact, Yusuke could have sworn the devil smiled ever so slightly. And yet he also had to note the eyes were not the same. Karasu's were a violet color. The Karasu that had stood at the back of the crowd had had eyes darker then the pits of the Abyss. 

                "Yusuke," Ron tapped the older boy lightly. "Come on. Let's go check on Harry." 

                Yusuke shook himself and walked after Ron, Hermoine, and Hiei. All the while, the image played over in his mind. Why hadn't Harry dodged? He could have. But it seemed like he had been slowed down. Yusuke thought he was crazy, but he was sure he saw the flash of chains on his body, but they had been made of…wind, it seemed. It couldn't be. 

                "Yusuke," a voice suddenly hissed in his ear. 

                Yusuke looked up, turning his head this way and that frantically, like a frightened deer, looking for the person who had said his name. He stopped and wanted to run from the person he found among the shadows. Sitting sidesaddle, hair loose and shimmering like the rainbow, was the black rider. Her horse, he was sure it was she by the curve of her now noticeable chest, was snorting, shaking it head, mane seeming to float, like in water. 

                Yusuke watched as the woman mouthed a single word, her eyes shining deep blood red. A grim look passed on her face and she mouthed it again. With that she took her horse's reigns and yanked back, sending the animal wheeling to the side, rearing, mouth foaming and its eyes rolling, body covered in lather that had not been there before. She eyed him with eyes colder then ice now and mouthed the word again before her horse leapt into the shadows and disappeared without a sound.

                Yusuke stood there, suddenly afraid. The rider had come before the attack on the cat, and now it came after the attack on Harry. What did it all mean? Who as the rider? And why? Why that one word? The split sky? Shishi and Karasu? What the hell did it all mean?

                "Yusuke?" Ron asked, frowning as he came back for his friend. 

                "Beware," Yusuke breathed. 

                "What?" Ron asked confused.

                "The warning from the Rider," Yusuke whispered. "Beware." That word echoed in his mind as he walked with Ron to the hospital wing.

                Beware.

*~*~*~*  
  
K, listen, I have this major history project due and it consists of two 5x7 cross stitch patterns. If you know what cross stitch is, you know it takes awhile. SO GIVE ME A BREAK! And I have loaded with homework and can't get on the comp a lot, so forgive me. Thanks for being so patient! I love you all! 

~ Blaque Midnyte 


	15. Serpents

Oh my gosh! I am back!!! I was banned from the comp for a whole night (NO! I NEED MY COMP! MY PRETTY ELECTRO CLEF! Yes, I named my comp…BUT ANYWAY!) I also am still working on that project and I have an oral in Spanish, plus I have a major test, no, scratch that, TWO of them, coming up that I HAVE TO STUDY FOR! No buts. 

**Yusuke: Since when have you studied for Social Studies? I thought it was an snooze and cruise class.**

**Me: WHO HAS THE DRAGON?! *bloodshot, death glare***

**Yusuke: Oo Meep**

**Me: Exactly! Now, go do your job! *punts into fic* Now, on we go! *glares at other characters* And if you all don't get to work I will force you into this! *holds up cute, little, pink bunny suit*  
  
Everyone Else: NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! *jump into fic***

**Me: When all else fails, use the cute, little, pink bunny suite. Here we go! **

**Serpents**

Sheque looked up as her brother entered through a small portal. Her horse shook its head and reared, then blew across the field. Sheque did not blame him. Fisron's steeds did not like her either, but then again, their conflicting energies often had this effect. 

                Sheque quietly accepted her elder brother's peck on the forehead in way of greeting, "So, you have appeared twice. What do you make of him?" 

                "What is there to make of him?" Sheque asked. "He is the Demon Lord."

                "So does that mean you lay claim to him?" asked Fisron, summoning a goblet of silver and diamond to his hand, sipping the white liquid within. 

                "You honestly think he'd come to you?" snarled Sheque.

                Fisron chuckled, "It is always a possibility." 

                Sheque frowned and turned to admonish her brother when there was a small flash of light and an ever-changing fox appeared. This too glowed and formed into a female looking man with a tail that was ever changing as the fox had been. Both Fisron and Sheque nodded to Kistrono, the Fox God, father of Kami-Kistune. 

                The elder god walked forward gracefully and bowed, "I suppose you already know my son has taken Kurama." 

                "That was apparent," Sheque snorted. "The red-head reeked of your son." 

                Kistrono nodded, "Not surprising." 

                Fisron smirked, "But that is not why you came, is it?"

                Kistrono frowned down at the younger god, "Do not look confident. We could have a situation on our hands if we don't act fast and correctly. A wrong move and Cormahs wins this game." Their smirks disappeared and they became serious, listening to the elder god with rapt attention. Kistrono continued after he was assured an audience, "My son, as you know, is not as powerful as I and he needs to restore his strength soon by returning to our realm. When he does, I am sure Cormahs will attack."

                "And?" Sheque prompted. "They have evaded her before, the can do it again while Kistrono renews his bond." 

                Kistrono frowned, "Yusuke is connected, and deeply, to his friends. What do you think will happen when one dies? Think about what happened at the Dark Tournament." 

                Fisron, "He won."

                Kistrono, "Yes, but not before becoming emotionally unbalanced. He had a few days to recover, but if Kurama is killed and he does become unbalanced, do you honestly think that Cormahs will wait two or three days for him? No. She'll attack and he'll loose." 

                Fisron and Sheque frowned. Sheque sighed and cast her eyes down, "So? What do we do?" 

                "As we speak, Infermala is making his way to earth to begin his campaign for Hiei," Kistrono said. "However, they will need more help then that."

                "And what do you suggest? Or, what have you already done?" Fisron asked. 

                Kistrono smiled, "I just woke some sleeping serpents from their nests." Fisron and Sheque's eyes widened. Slowly, what he had done sunk in their lips split into identical smiles. The scales had just tipped again, and they were in their favor.

() () () () () () ()  ('' ) () () () () () () () 

                Yusuke had not visited Harry in the hospital while he healed. The black rider and her words had to shaken him beyond the point of registering anything outside his own confused world. Karasu had been found, unconscious in the dungeon halls by Snape, and Shishi had finally given up on trying to communicate with Yusuke, but had readily done so when Ron had related what Yusuke said as they had left the pitch. 

                So, it was no surprise to Harry, after Ron had related the story again, that Yusuke had to be tapped (really it was slap) to get him to noticed. Yusuke's eyes had widened when he saw the boy before him. "Harry?" he croaked. 

                "Hey," Harry said and willingly sank into the hug Yusuke gave him, patting him on the back softly as he felt the elder boy's body shake, from relief or shame or some other emotion he could not tell. 

                Hiei sat silently on his bed, scribbling down some words from a large book. No one questioned him. He had said his own hellos to Harry and had expressed his concerns for the boy (in a far less touchy, feely way) and they had to be satisfied with it. Harry smiled when Ookami and Shinrai screeched their welcomes and Hedwig hooted happily from the window. 

                "So, what happened out on the pitch?" Yusuke finally asked. "Something weird had to happen, cause it's not like you to let something hit you like that. You could have easily dodged." 

                Harry frowned, "I don't know. It was like I had weight suddenly thrown on me and it was hard to breathe. I couldn't move. That's what really sums it up." 

                Hiei suddenly spoke up, "I would guess it would be either an earth manipulation spell or a wind spell. But earth is visible, so we would have seen it, so that leaves wind."    

                "Who the hell can use wind magic, or energy, besides Jin?" asked Yusuke in a growl, suddenly vaulted from his own world. 

                Hiei flipped through his notes, "Through the ages, in England, there have been quite a few powerful wind mages. However, anyone could have cast it. It's an easy spell to learn." 

                "Did Draco do something? Could it have been him?" Ron asked instantly. 

                Harry shook his head, "As much as I want to think it's Draco, it's not. No one in this school is taught elemental magic, and he would been busted for using it outside class, and like that. That means it was someone else." 

                "We would have sensed the energy, and who it came from," Hiei stated. "But all I got was the actual attack and I could barely see it forming on you. Whoever cast it has very good control on their energy if they can hide it like that from one of us." 

                "Well, that's great," Ron huffed. "And how are we supposed to teach this guy a lesson for what he did?" 

                Hiei shook his head, "We can't, not without knowing who. And besides that, I don't know if we'll have time." 

                "What do you mean?" Yusuke asked with a growl, not liking where this was heading. 

                "Well, it was all Kurama's fault," Hiei started.

                "Get to the point!" Yusuke snarled viciously. 

                "We're all signed up for the dueling club, first meeting tomorrow night," Hiei said quickly. In the same instant he said the sentence, Yusuke launched himself at the smaller demon and Ron, Harry, Hedwig, Shinrai, and Ookami watched as the room began a flurry of papers and feathers as the two demons, or really one demon, tried to deck the other. 

() () () () () () () (" ) () () () () () () () ()

                Kurama was smart and placed Harry and Ron between him and Yusuke then next night at the dueling club. To Yusuke's ultimate horror, Gilderoy and Snape were the ones teaching, Karasu was there for simply for medical services should they be needed. Yusuke swore mentally to kill Kurama later. 

                "Welcome, one and all!" shouted Gilderoy. He was pacing up and down several tables put together covered with patterned silk of them moon phases. "As you know, this is a dueling club. Here you will learn the art of dueling."

                _Which I already know,_ thought Yusuke with a snort. Why had Kurama dragged him into this? 

                "Now, watch carefully as my assistant and I demonstrate," Gilderoy called. The said 'assistant' was Snape. "Now, when you duel, you always face your opponent first and salute," and Gilderoy demonstrated. Snape did the same, though far less enthusiastic. "Now, turn your back and walk five paces," he announced to them and turned. Yusuke watched calmly as they paced. 

                "Snape will win," Hiei said in a whisper. Yusuke did not argue.

                At the count of five, in Yusuke's head, they spun. Snape pointed his wand, "_Explimarius_!" (Yes, I know I butchered that). Yusuke watched with amusement as Snape forced Gilderoy's wand from his hand before the high and mighty wizard had even gotten a syllable out.

                Gilderoy stood up with a shaky smiled, "Yes! That's it! Exactly! Now, who wants to try?" He looked around the room, "Ah! Harry! Come on up boy!" 

                Harry gulped and tried to shrink, but he couldn't and was bodily hauled up onto the stage. Gilderoy began to look around for an opponent when Snape cut in, "Malfoy, up here." Malfoy grinned and rose on stage. 

                "Well, what a match up!" Gilderoy applauded. "Now, you two know how its done. So, salute and then turn and pace five." 

                They did as told, and Yusuke raised an eyebrow in intrigue when Hiei smirked. Obviously this was going to be interesting if Hiei smirked at something that could put even the dullest of demons to sleep. Yusuke watched, counting. On three, Yusuke understood why Hiei had smirked. 

                Malfoy spun, "_Explimarius_!" A red flash shot from his wand and Yusuke watched Harry stiffen. Luckily, their little training sessions had done him good and summoned a shield quickly, turned and slipping to the side as the shot bounced off, making it look as if he had dodged it. 

                Gilderoy frowned, "That's an infraction of the rules! Stop at once!" Yusuke snorted from the sidelines. You had to be pretty stupid to think those two would stop when they fought unless Dumbledore himself popped up and started chirping like a canary. 

                Harry pointed his wand, but Malfoy was faster still, "_Seperantalis_!" There was a flash and Yusuke heard several girls scream. He blinked and finally found why.

                Poised to strike before Harry was a large snake, a cobra by the looks of it. Its hood held the traditional eye like marks he head seen in so many drawings, and its fangs were glittering in the faint torchlight. Draco gulped and took a step back. 

                With a shriek, the snake rose back and hissed. In that same instant, the room fell silent, save for Harry…who was hissing. The snake turned its head to Harry and spat, slithering backwards, and spinning again, its menacing glare fixed on Dean. It opened it maw wide, as if grinning. 

                Harry hissed viciously at the beast and it turned to regard him. It rose and flashed it hood as wide as it would go. It hissed back at him and turned just as a flash of light hit it and it vanished. Harry blinked and looked to where Snape was standing, face paler then usual, and eyes glittering madly. 

                "Potter, you are a freak," Malfoy spat and left, the rest of the crowd dispersing, casting wary glares at Harry as they did so. 

                "What did I do?" Harry asked when Kurama and the others came to meet him.               

                "You were hissing, Harry," Ron explained. "You were talking to the snake! And it looked like you were egging it on to take a bit out of Dean."

                "Couldn't you understand it, I mean, me?" Harry asked.

                "You're a parsletongue, a snake talker. Hardly any people can speak snake," Ron explained. "It's a rare gift, and always associated with those of Slytherin…and Voldemort."  

                "I think you should get back to your dorms," a cold voice said. Karasu was behind them, violet eyes cold. "Go on." They nodded and left, knowing Karasu, at least for now, might cover for them about the incident. He surely had the power to, anyway. 

                "What did the snake say? Why did it go after Dean?" Ron asked as they walked.

                Harry shrugged, "It thought Dean was someone else. He thought he might have been Yusuke. As for what it said…it was fragmented. Hard to understand." 

                "Why would it want me?" Yusuke inquired.

                "Remember that rider you said you saw?" asked Harry. Yusuke nodded. "Well, that snake…it said it was sent by the gods to relay a message." Yusuke quirked an eyebrow. "And he relayed such a message in a poem. _Look at me closely, see the resemblance in me, between those who fly the skies, and those who slither across the earth. They have risen from their sleep, like snakes from their winter dens. Their secrets revealed a time before this, you know their strength well, they helped you beat the darkness._"

                Yusuke blinked, "Did you get any of that, Kurama?" 

                Kurama shook his head as they started to part ways down a stairwell, "No, but I'll  sleep on it. Obviously it's something that has happened to us before."

                "And that's how many adventures?" asked Yusuke sarcastically. 

                Kurama frowned and shrugged. They said their good byes and parted ways, the riddle like poem plaguing their sleep. 

() () () () () () () (" ) () () () () () () () () 

                Thunderheads rolled across the English channel, and waves rose high across the waters. Thunder boomed in applause for lightning as it danced across the skies, and the waves sang their own, incoherent song as they crested and then fell back down, lost among their peers. 

                The waves and the thunderhead cried together as they were met with another storm, this one of ice and biting cold. The storms fused and became one, the waves rolling higher still and singing louder. As one, they sang as they flew across the Channel. And yet, soon their song dies, blown back by strong winds and earth that dared to rise and try to shield the main land from the wrath of the storms. 

                Slowly, they died, and peace reign across the Channel, the clouds remained and the sea still sang, softly, but any human who cared to listen would hear it. It raised its voice so they wind and earth might hear it, "Barely a year of sleep, and already we are called." 

                "Again, for us," boomed the wind. 

                "Where is the one who commands fire?" hissed ice.

                "He is far away, but will be here soon," hissed the earth. "Give it time." 

                "That depends on how much time they give us," snarled thunder. 

                "Come now, stop this squabbling. Let us make way to our new charge's home," sang the sea sweetly. 

                "Good idea," the wind wailed and the others agreed. They all fell silent and made their way across the main land, heading to their charge's home, as the sea had suggested, casting shadows across the land that made the people upon it quake in fear. 

                The serpents, as Kistrono said, had awakened. 

() () () () () () () () (") () () () () () () () () 

                Right, that's all for now. I am so sorry I have not updated recently, but I have lots of schoolwork so it is kind of hard. Gomen! *bows* Please forgive me! And thanks to all who review!

~ Blaque Mindyte


	16. Abduction

People! I'm back! Sorry it took so long, but school and all. STUPID CHEMICAL EQUATIONS!! WHY?! WHY WHY WHY?! 

**Anyway, on we go to the next chap. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, including my self-proclaimed #1 fan. Thanks!**

**(Warning: Chapter probably rather short due to my rant section is short and I have had another brain fart and am so stressed over my major project due and a science test!)**

**Abduction**

"Your beast has done little in the way of helping out plans," Cormahs snarled at Voldemort. 

                "Well, neither did your little expedition," Voldemort countered. 

                Cormahs's lip rose in distaste as she hurled the sickened figure back into his chair with her energy, reminding him just how weak he was compared to her. With a warning glare she departed the room and headed out of the house Voldemort had chosen to den himself in.

                She headed towards the woods in the back of the house, smiling grimly as the ravens and crows around the house took flight at her presence, screaming to the world that their queen was near. Cormahs slipped in among the shadows and wound her way through the tangles of tree roots and bushes, walking fearlessly where other feared to tread. 

                She finally came to a stop outside a clearing, but this was not the clearing found in forest that was lit by golden sunshine, on the contrary. It was overwhelmed by shadows, and even darker shadows writhing within them.  Cormahs smiled again and her eyes narrowed as a seal spread across the borders of the clearing.

                From inside the shadows came a scream and through the barrier plunged a mass of flesh like a newborn babe, draped in black blood. Cormahs stared down at it with contempt as the being rose to bow before her. 

                "How may I serve you?" it hissed, it's voice high and shrieking, yet song like in quality all at once. 

                "At a place where magic gathers, there is a boy I wish you to kill," Cormahs instructed. "I want you to drown him." 

                The demon looked up with a sick grin and bowed delightedly, "It shall be done! Great shame will befall this boy's spirit when he is drowned by me!" Cormahs nodded and the demon slunk off. The seal disappeared from the borders of the glade and Cormahs turned on her heel, satisfied one of her problems would be solved, and very soon. 

(")

                Yusuke sat in Professor Flitwick's class, yawning as the midget professor preached from atop his stack of books. It had been a long weak. First it was that whole snake thing in the duel club, then three straight days of tests and quizzes, and now a sermon by a charm's professor with a voice that was the equivalent of a mouse squeaking. 

                "Now, I want you to make the pillows travel across the room to the basket," Flitwick said. He hopped down and appeared from behind his desk, shielded by at least five pillows of his own. He looked a lot like a walking couch pillow "Now, please begin." 

                With another yawn Yusuke flicked his wand and sent a pillow flying to bounce of the back wall and land in the basket. What puzzled him was the riddle Harry said the snake had given him. What did it all mean? And what the hell was with that rider he kept seeing? It didn't make a lick of sense. 

                He flicked his wand again absently and was broken from his daze when Flitwick appeared before him, huffing and puffing, "Young man! Pay attention! You nearly knocked my block off!" 

                "Uh?" Yusuke asked innocently. Hiei pocked him and pointed. Yusuke blinked and smirked, "Sorry about that." His desk was sitting, or rather squashing, the basket. 

                "Right, well," Flitwick began, but the bell rang and Yusuke grabbed his things before Flitwick could start another sermon and was out the door, heading to Transfiguration. 

                "Honestly, Yusuke, I would think you'd be a little more responsible," Harry chided him jokingly. "Nearly taking the Professor's block off!" 

                "Yeah, well, it wouldn't have helped his height problem," Yusuke chuckled. Harry giggled (yes, giggled) and they turned into their next class – Transfiguration with the Slytherins. 

                They took their seats, Malfoy sitting diagonal two seats, but keeping his gaze averted. Yusuke didn't blame him. The boy had taken another whack at him and had gotten severely bruised for it. He had tried a curse on Yusuke, but spirit magic was much stronger then wand, and thus a simple shield reflected it. Malfoy, however, wasn't so lucky when Yusuke appeared behind him and delivered a swift reprimand for his actions – a swift, very hard, punch between the shoulders. Yusuke had delivered Malfoy to the door of his dorm and left, out cold by the strike. 

                Professor McGonagall appeared, her hair back in its tight knit bun as usual, with her eyes peering out at them through thick glasses, "Today, we will begin the chapter on changing one species of animal to another." 

                The class groaned. They all knew that animal transfiguration was the hardest there was. Their groaned were halted however, when Hermoine raised her hand. McGonagall nodded and Hermoine went on, "Professor, could you tell us about the Chamber of Secrets?" For once, Yusuke applauded the girl for asking a question he too wanted to know the answer to. 

                McGonagall watched her for a moment, and then slowly nodded. "The Chamber of Secrets…little is known about it. All we know is that it has been around since the beginning of Hogwarts, created by the Founder of Slytherin for some unknown purpose. It is said, deep within its bowels, crawls a terrible monster. It rose once, years ago, and we thought we had sealed it away. But, it has risen again, and it can only be closed by the heir to the Chamber of Secrets." With that, she turned back to her desk and shuffled through a few papers, when a student broke the growing whispers in the class.

                "What's that?" she called and pointed to the window right behind McGonagall. 

                McGonagall spun and looked around. There, perched on the sill of the window was a small raven, but it wasn't Ookami. No, this raven had a much darker aura about it. With a screech it launched itself from its perch, dark wings spread as it coasted over McGonagall's head. The class stared it awe as it circled above them, eye focused on a single point below it. With a shriek it dove, beak aimed at Harry. Yusuke and Hiei leapt up, ready to defend him, but the bird seemed to speed up and neither Hiei nor Yusuke saw exactly what it did, but in the next few seconds the bird passed through Harry and Harry fainted, Yusuke barely catching him before his head hit that stone floor. 

                "What the hell was that?" Hiei demanded, searching for the raven, but it was gone. 

                McGonagall came running, leaning down next to Harry, checking his pulse and making sure he was breathing. When she had assured herself the boy was still alive she turned to Hiei and Yusuke, "Take him to Madame Promfrey, at once!" The older boys needed no further urging and we're up and out the door in a flash, sprinting down the hall, an unconscious Harry held Yusuke's arms. 

(")

                The raven landed on a willow branch overlooking the lake, dark eyes watching as a shadow circle in the water, drawing nearer to the surface. A head pushed through the water, causing small ripples to appear as it tread water.

                "Did you mark him?" hissed the demon. The raven screeched, something like a wicked smile spreading across its beak. The demon smiled, "Good…good. Tell Lady Cormahs that her wish shall be done, and soon."  The raven shrieked and took flight, fading into the night sky as the demon disappeared below the depths. 

(")

                "Man, this is to much!" Yusuke snarled. "Someone is definitely out to get us!"

                "Well, what would you expect?" a cold voice asked and they turned to face Karasu, brushing back a lock of his hair daintily as he came in. "This is war, after all. You saw the sky."  

                Yusuke stiffened, "What of it? It doesn't explain much in the way of who the hell is after us!" 

                Karasu's lips turned down in a grim frown, "There are several people after you, though for different purposes. This is probably the work of the one called Cormahs, or at least, by one of her demons." 

                "But why Harry?" Hiei asked in a snarl. "What role does he play in all this?" 

                "That has yet to be determined," Karasu said softly, staring down at the shallowly breathing form of Harry. "Come now," he said after a moment. "We need to go. It is late, and you need rest. For more then just classes." Yusuke and Hiei nodded turning from Harry's side, albeit reluctantly. 

                When the door had closed and their footsteps faded down one of the numerous halls, silence befell the infirmary, but that was not a good thing. Silently, the moon rose in the sky, and beneath the silver shawl she cast upon the world a shadow crawled. The grass became wet were it slithered over it, and mist rose in the air as it breathed. Silently, quieter then the beat of an owl's wings, the shadow slithered up the wall, stopping at the window of the infirmary, looking in.

                With a silent laugh to itself, it pressed a hand to the windowpane. There was a soft hiss, but the glass relented and began to melt, trickling down the walls like rain drops on glass. It crawled inside and looked among the beds, making patients shiver as its breath brushed their cheeks. Finally, it stopped and gazed upon the figure in one bed longer then the others. With a lilting laugh it clapped a deathly cold hand across the figure's mouth, using the other to grasp the student's arm and haul him over his shoulder. It removed its hand and shimmied up the wall and through the window. With a whispered world the drops at the bottom of the wall quivered and came together once more. With that done, the shadow crawled across the grass to the edge of the lake. 

                With a final look around, the shadow descended into the waters, and barely managed to stifle the cry of the being over its shoulder as water began to cover the human's face. 

(")

                Hiei's head lurched towards the window, pulling him away from the book he had been reading by moonlight while the others slept on. His gaze fell to the lake, where ripples were spreading out from the edge. The giant squid would not have come out this late, and to the surface of all places. Something was wrong. 

                Hiei closed the book and snuck out of the Tower, heading to the infirmary. His gut told him something was wrong, and it involved Harry. And, usually, his gut was right. 

(")

                Harry's eyes flared open when he felt water touch his ears. Without thinking he opened his mouth to let out a scream for help, but a hand colder then death clapped over it, making him shiver as the water covered him. Harry screwed up his eyes and summoned his spirit energy, creating a shield, locking in as much oxygen as he could. 

                "You are talented," snarled the creature that had kidnapped him. Harry just growled in return, knowing he stood no chance if the thing could so easily swim through the water, even with him on his shoulder. "But that will not matter, no, it will not. As soon as we get to the cave, I will kill you. Lady Cormahs will be pleased."

                "Who?" Harry asked, bubbles coming from his mouth instead, but he swallowed no water. He didn't know how long he could keep the shield up, but he prayed it was enough so that he could escape.

                The creature seemed to understand his question and spat out a gurgling laugh, "Lady Cormahs, Mistress of the Darkness, Goddess of all that is evil!" Harry's mouth went dry. A Goddess? Surely this thing must be joking! The creature continued to laugh, "Yes, yes, her brother and sister are no match! Soon, the sky shall be split three ways, and not even the mighty Oberon can stop her and her conquest of this earth!" 

                Harry's stomach feel to his feet and his heart rose to his throat. He knew from reading that Oberon could be one of two people – King of the Faerie, which in general were people who could control magic, or a powerful god, one who was supposed to have created the universe. Of course, this varied from book to book and belief to belief, but this creature obviously did not mean King of the Faerie, for Oberon had many children, but none were named Cormahs, and by the sound of it, this Oberon was not the father of Cormahs, in which case the Faerie Oberon would be. 

                Harry shivered as the temperature suddenly dropped, and the light went out. He could no longer see the silver shafts of the moon flickering on the water's surface, and he knew there was no hope. They had reached the so-called cave, and he was going to die. If only he had his wand! And he couldn't attack with his spirit energy without risking letting the shield down! At least he would last a little longer with it up, but was that a good thing?

                Just as Harry had given up all hope, his ears rang with the piercing screech of the creature that held him. It wasn't one of joy, but of pain. It shook Harry from his thoughts and his head snapped up. With his heart lodged in his throat, he found not the voice to scream, but it would have down little use right then, since the wind was soon knocked out of him. 

                Gripping the creature's foot between four gargantuan teeth, was the head of what seemed a rather large snake. Dark sapphire eyes glowed in the darkness that was the cave, but the darkness vanished as the two rocketed backwards out of the cave into the silver dimness of the open waters. The creature screeched as the reptile creature let it go, blood clouding the waters from the wound on its leg where the snake thing had caught it. 

                With a cry, the creature let Harry go and he sank to the sands at the bottom of the lake, not daring to move, his shield still in place, as he watched rocks cascade down from the underwater mountain it had blasted into.  

                From his position, Harry got a good look at the snake beast that had saved him, but just might turn on him. It was enormous. Its head was elegantly crafted, with twin sapphire eyes and a frame of majestic spikes around its face from a sparkling jewel set in the center of its forehead. From the same jewel started a transparent mane, catching the silver blueness of the waters and taking that hue, seeming as a shimmering heat wave in the liquid around it. Its body was long, part curved like the neck of a swan, the rest coiled like a snake, yet so much more graceful then that. A third of the way down, sharp fins sprouted from its side, but they were bunched, like the wings of a bird. Its maw was filled with perfect white teeth, but he had to notice they were not stained with the blood it drew from the wound on his captive's leg. 

                Harry turned as his captive screeched and launched itself from the pit it had dug in the rock. With a look that clearly said the creature that had saved Harry was bored, it opened its jaws but a little and from them spun a whirlpool that encased Harry's captive. Harry turned away as flashes of light began to light the whirlpool up, and blood spilled like a gathering thunderhead around it. The roar of the whirlpool faded and the screams of the captor were gone. 

                Harry dared not move, afraid the great beast that had saved him would remember he was there, and thus turn on him. It was not be. The creature turned to him, scales the color of aquamarine's glittering in the moonlight. "Seems we arrived in time," it said, its voice enchantingly calm, like the flow of a river, or the lullaby of a stream, yet it held a feminine note to it, one that calmed Harry, allowing him to look at the leviathan before him. 

                "Who are you?" he asked, bubbles once more spewing from his mouth instead. 

                The snake chuckled, "Me? I am Undine, Dragon of the Waters, Queen of the Oceans and Seas, Princess of  Rivers and Streams, Lady of Lakes."

                "Dragon?!" Harry cried, now completely thrown for a loop.

                Undine laughed again, smiling as only a dragon could smile, "Come, I shall take you back to the world of air breathers." She bent her massive head to him and picked him up gently, a gently as a feather falling to earth. 

                She unfurled her massive wings and pumped them, sending her rocketing upwards, Harry clutched safely in her jaws. In a few seconds they had reached the surface and broke through. Harry gasped for breath gratefully and felt Undine shake in laughter. 

                "Harry!" a voice cried. 

                Harry looked down and saw Hiei, eyes burning, sword drawn. Harry suddenly realized how he must look in the jaws of this massive beast, and went white. Undine was in for a nasty surprise. 

(")

                Hiei roared when he found Harry was not in the infirmary. Like a dark shadow he ran through the halls and out the doors to the lakeshore. He stared down into its dark depths, growling all the while. After ten minutes he had resolved to brave the icy waters and go find him, but there was no need.

                A shadow was rapidly growing from beneath the waters. Like an eruption of a geyser, a snake like creature broke through the surface, scattering drops of water like so many diamonds. When it had stopped, Hiei had his sword drawn. 

                For clutched in his jaws was Harry. 

*~*~*~*

                Ha! HA! I did it! I finished the project and I can update now! Ha! HA! Sorry it took so long, but you all understand, those of you still in school anyway. I will update as fast as I can, I promise! Bye for now!

~ Blaque Mindyte


	17. Lair of the Dragons

I am so sorry I have not been able to update as of late! I've had a hard time getting on my computer as of late *sobs* but with school and stuff (SO MANY MEETINGS!) and a bunch of outside stuff, I haven't had much time. I have tried my best to get on, but as explained above, I've had problems. Also, since I realize I may not have stated this earlier….

THIS IS NOT A YAOI FIC!!!!

                Now that I have that clear, I also have another announcement. I believe I received a question asking about the dragon and what I said previously in my earlier fic. I realize I did went against what I said in the last fic, but it will all make sense! Just be patient, please? Thank you and please enjoy your fic. *hands out popcorn to everyone* Here we go!

Lair of the Dragons 

            Hiei's eyes flared when the beast broke the surface, Harry clutched in its jaws. Instantly, Hiei's hand dove for his sword and it shrieked as he pulled it from its scabbard, his bandana gone, and his jagan eye free to look upon the beast as well. 

                "Hiei!" Harry screamed from where he was clutched in its jaws. 

                "Harry, don't move!" Hiei called. 

                Above, Harry paled and frowned at the same time, "That's not what I mean! Hiei-," he was cut short as the little fire demon leapt into the air, aiming for Undine's eyes as he hurled his sword. 

                Harry's body vibrated as an angry growl rose from the bowels of Undine's stomach. He saw the water erupt once more as her tail came flying out, knocking the sword aside so it sank into the waters, only to reverse and aim for Hiei, still falling back to earth from his leap. 

                Harry gasped and winced as Hiei hit the ground with a sickening thud, Undine's tail slamming into him that hard. When the dust cleared, Harry turned to color of Sir Nick for Hiei had made his own little crater where he had landed. 

                "Did you honestly have to hit him so hard?" Harry asked Undine as she lowered her head, placing him gently beside Hiei as the waves washed his sword up in the sand. 

                Undine looked at him with her sapphire eyes and a rumbling laughed escaped her scaly lips, "It was either that or have him alert all the grounds to my presence."

                "It's not funny!" Harry chided the dragon.

                Undine stopped laughing and turned her head away, as if in shame, "Yes, you're right, of course." She cocked her head suddenly and then turned to stare at the castle. Harry followed her gaze and groaned. Sprinting towards them were the four people he did not need right then – Shishi, Karasu, Kurama, and Yusuke. 

                Undine's lips rose back and her growl shook the earth, eyes glowing faintly as they approached. Harry saw that Kurama has his whip out and Shishi his sword. Harry stood up and waved, shouting pleas for them to stop less they end up much like Hiei. He knew Undine meant well, but the dragon had ever right to fight back should they attack her. 

                "Shishi! Kurama! Put your weapons up!" Harry shouted, voice growing hoarse. This time, they were close enough to hear him.

                Kurama and Shishi pulled up short, staring at him and then the dragon, very confused. Yusuke and Karasu ignored him entirely and made a mad dash for the crater Hiei lay within, breathing shallowly and blood dripping from his lips. Harry pleaded with them to put the weapons away, Undine growling the whole time, and the rumbling was only quailed when the weapons vanished. Her eyes returned to normal and she retreated into the waters, watching them silently as they fussed over Hiei and Harry alike. 

                "What happened?" Yusuke demanded as he moved off Hiei so Kurama could tend to him. 

                Harry looked back at Undine, who merely yawned in response to the question in his eyes. He sighed and turned to Yusuke, who was now helping Karasu patch up his scraped and bruises, none of which came from Undine, and that alone had spared her life thus far as far as Yusuke was concerned, but Hiei was another matter. Harry knew he should explain that first, else Undine would have a hole through her head in the next few seconds or so. 

                "First off, don't hurt Undine," Harry said. "And second off, Undine didn't hurt Hiei because she wanted to. He attacked her first!" 

                Yusuke nodded, "Alright, alright. We won't hurt your friend." 

                Harry glared and Yusuke crossed his heart. Harry took this as his promise and went on, "I was sleeping in the infirmary, when this thing kidnapped me. He took me below the lake, said he was taking me somewhere and kept saying it would please someone, though he never said exactly who. We were just entering a cave when Undine showed up and dragged us back out and beat the guy who kidnapped me. Hiei was waiting when he came back up and he attacked Undine, though I told him not too. She swatted him in return and well…you know the rest." 

                Undine had inched nearer to them and now was hovering over Shishi and Kurama as they worked on Hiei. "I am sorry," she said, her voice soft as it had been when she spoke underwater to Harry. "However, I could not afford to loose my eye, nor could I afford a battle. He will recover however. Gohaki is on his way with the others now." 

                "Stop!" Yusuke hollered as he helped Harry button his shirt up to keep out the cold, Karasu's cloak draped around his shoulder now that he was firmly bandaged. "First off, who are you, besides just the name Undine?" 

                Undine inclined her head, "Forgive me again, I forget my manners. I am Undine, Dragon of the Waters." 

                "That's impossible!" Kurama said instantly. "The Dragon of Waters is dead! Cyen told us!"

                Undine nodded, "Aye, the previous one is dead. I am his successor. Gohaki is the new Dragon of Earth, and Illiani is the Dragon of Ice."

                "Then what of Elecstrignecto and Cyen?" Karasu asked. "Are they still alive?"  
                "And what of a new Dragon of Darkness?" Yusuke prompted. "I defeated her last year, surely they have another by now." 

                Undine thought for a moment, "In answer about Cyen and Elecstrignecto, they remain alive and well. They came with us here and are on their way as well with Gohaki and Illiani. As for Darkness…it remains to be seen if he will appear or not. We focus on the primary elements, but Darkness is the strongest of the outside elements, and we do not control them. Same as Light."

                "There is a Dragon of Light?" Karasu asked. "I did not think it possible."

                Undine nodded, "Yes. His name is Saragin, and he is much older then even Elecstrignecto, and that old codger celebrated his twenty-seven thousandth birthday not a few months ago."  

                "Who are you calling and old codger, my dear little Undine?" a voice rumbled like the sound of thunder. 

                Undine looked up into the sky, where clouds had begun to gather. They parted and from them descended a massive dragon, the color of emeralds, with yellow eyes that held lightning within them, flashing at random. Its claws were polished emeralds themselves, and ivory fangs sparkled in the night, stretched in a wicked grin as it fell upon them, massive wings creating ten foots waves with each small pump. 

                "Elecstrignecto," Undine acknowledged him, bowing her head and spreading her wings respectively. 

                The dragon had grown since the last time Kurama and Yusuke had seen him. Where before he had been massive, larger then even Cyen, he was now colossal. He could have easily bee taller then the tallest tower of the castle just standing on his four feet. Up on his hind legs and he would have had a full fifty feet over the top spire. 

                Elecstrignecto looked over the scene before scooping up Hiei, Kurama, and Shishi in his massive hand. Kurama made no complaints, knowing Elecstrignecto's intentions to be good and suffered through it, though Shishi seemed to have a newly discovered fear of heights. 

The great green monster chuckled and tucked them close to his chest as he rose into the air. "Undine, I trust you can bring the others?"

Undine nodded and used her tail to pluck each one from the earth, placing them between the spikes on her head. "I will deliver them. Just make sure Illiani has not frozen over my entrance again." Elecstrignecto chuckled and nodded before disappearing into the clouds. Undine turned away from the shore and began to sink. "Don't worry," she assured them. "It won't take long." Harry groaned inwardly as the water began to creep up on him again. His second dunk in less then fifteen minutes. He sucked in a breath and then he was fully submerged. 

*~o0o~*

                "Hold still, halfling!" snarled Gohaki as he gently mashed a salve over Hiei's rib cage. "If you keep it up I'll cause more damage then heal it!"

                Hiei grumbled to himself and relaxed into the man's lap. When they had arrived, Elecstrignecto had called Gohaki. Gohaki was really a small bronze dragon, with eyes of deep amber and scales the color of a new penny. His claws were white, tinged slightly with the same color as his scales, which marked him as an adolescent, coming into his adulthood. His wings were odd as well, being leathery, yet having the forms of bird's wings at the same time. Gohaki had been worried about working on Hiei, since the demon was so small and fragile when compared to a dragon's strength. Gohaki had then revealed a secret talent – morphing. And thus, that was how Hiei had come to be resting in a pretty sun elf's lap as the said dragon/sun elf administered a special healing salve from its hordes. 

                Kurama and Karasu sat in the corner, leaning against the belly of Elecstrignecto wrapped in blankets, trying to stay warm in the high altitude lair the dragons had chosen for their hideout. In the opposite corner sat a dragon of immense beauty. Scales like diamonds shimmered in the shadows and eyes as blue as ice under the moon watched them. Claws of diamond scratched the earth every now and then, while a tail like a whip slithered around its hindquarters, playing with the two creatures that lay against its hide – Harry and Karasu. Wings like that of a massive bird, save they were transparent, were folded over them, locking in heat, yet allowing them to see and be seen. This was Illiani, Dragon of Ice. 

                "Where are Cyen, Sulfurous, and that demon lord kit?" demanded Illiani, not the most patient of the dragons. 

                "Be patient," Elecstrignecto said calmly. He turned to the door as Undine slithered in, bearing more blankets from her underwater cave that rested beneath the mountain cave, but not all the way down, for it was concealed behind a waterfall. "Oh, good," the green said softly, plucking one from Undine's mouth and draping it over his charges while Illiani repeated the same thing, fussing over the two mortals like a mother hen over her chicks. 

                "For one who does not like to baby-sit, you sure are making a fuss over those two," she informed him, taking a seat on a massive pillow in the back. 

                Illiani glared, "It is my duty to Sheque to tend to them." Undine snorted, but did not press the matter. 

                Gohaki had just finished wrapping the bandages around Hiei's ribcage when Illiani's question was answered. Through the doorway came two dragons, both which they all knew. The first was the eldest of the two. A silver dragon of regal bearing, with head as elegant as that of a fox, and scales shaped like the heads of spears. His wings were those of a bat, fanned gently out to the wide of him and he shielded Yusuke from the rain pouring outside now. His claws were encased in a coat of silver, and fangs the size of Karasu's arm poked out from the massive jaw, though his eyes – seemingly formed of quicksilver – betrayed no hostile motives as his teeth might suggest to those who did not know him. 

                The second dragon was younger, and of an entirely different breed. Sulfurous was a Chinese dragon, with a mane of fiery gold and scales the same shade of red as a romantic sunset. He bore front claws, shining of cut rubies in the frequent flashes of lightning, and with a body that was at least the same size in length as the empire state building was tall, took up much space, as he was far more muscular then Undine, who was slimmer, meant for traveling through water then fiery volcanoes. Eyes the color of flint looked around and spotted Hiei, then turned to Gohaki, glaring at the morphed dragon. Gohaki respectfully pulled back, returning to his dragon form and taking a seat near the entrance, blocking the storm out with his own bulk. 

                "Now that we are all gathered," Elecstrignecto sniffed while Cyen and Sulfurous made their own designated charges comfortable, "I suppose we owe the children an explanation."

                Undine turned to the elder dragon, "I have told them some."

                "Yeah, if by some you mean that the dead dragons from last year have been replaced," Hiei snarled.

                Gohaki shook his head. Undine was the youngest of them, and ever rash. "Undine, if you're going to riddle someone something, make sure you know the answer to the riddle," he advised. Undine snarled, but dragon etiquette kept her from making a smart reply. 

                "Yes, well, right now, that is not important," Cyen coughed, second eldest among them, next to Elecstrignecto. 

                Yusuke sprung into the conversation, receiving a rather surprised looked from Illiani and Undine, who for one would not have tolerated such a thing in their lairs. "Elecstrignecto, Cyen, and Illiani – you need to know that Jin and Touya are not with us this year." 

                "We know," Illiani said. "To me it does not matter. I had no connection with Touya, therefore I lost nothing."

                "Speak for yourself," Cyen growled. "Jin channeled both my energy and that of Elecstrignecto. Without him we can't battle openly, and neither can you! Not without a host!" 

                "The only who can fight really is Gohaki, using Kurama," Undine commented. "That is, if Kamikitsune will let him. That one has always been possessive of servants."

"That is beside the point!" Elecstrignecto snarled viciously, silencing them all and cutting Kurama off before he could reply to Undine's comment. "The point of this meeting is that they need to know what is expected of them!"

                "We know what is expected of us," Shishi said from beneath his blankets. 

                "Hardly," Gohaki scoffed. "Sheque has only  had minimal inference up to this point. Fisron has had the most, and only with Kurama. What I mean is, Kamikitsune works under Fisron, as does his father, Kistrono. Kurama has made his choice already, and thus did it all begin. But now the stakes are higher as Cormahs moves her plans up. She has moved quickly and far faster then the gods thought she would."

                "And this has to do with us, how?" Karasu prompted. 

                Sulfurous took up the speech from where Gohaki had left off, his deep voice ringing like a gong through the cavern. "Our meaning is that, compared to the threat Cormahs represents, the Elemental Masters were nothing. And, to make matters worse, I doubt the gods will make a friendship between you all and Harry work."

                "What do you mean?" Harry asked, shaking still beneath his blankets. Illiani leaned down and tucked the blankets closer, breathing on them. For an ice dragon, his breath was quite warm, and Harry gratefully leaned into it. 

                "What I mean is…," Sulfurous left off and turned to Undine, his eyes telling her take it from there.

                She sighed and turned to them, "What we mean is the time has come. No longer can the gods afford to have two magicks mix and live among the other. Cormahs has proven such an alliance is deadly. And so, Sheque and Fisron woke us from our sleeps to guard you, for this may well be the last time you may see each other as friends."

                Harry's eyes widened and he sank into Illiani, who nudged him gently, his eyes sympathetic. "I don't understand," he whispered.

                Yusuke sighed and turned his face away, "Harry, it's hard to explain. You see, wand magic and spirit magic were never meant to know of one another, and us becoming friends broke that law. And because of that, we may have bent the will of the fates, causing this whole war."

                "Just because we're friends?" Harry demanded. He turned his eyes to Karasu, wide and begging, but the elder demon did not meet his gaze. Harry swung to each demon, but each time he was not meant with reply other then a turning of a head. "You all knew?" he gasped hoarsely.

                "I did not think such an act would come of it," Yusuke admitted. "Even Koenma knew, but the Elemental Masters were to powerful to be utterly ignored. We had to come. And taking you back to Japan…that was where we probably crossed the line." 

                Harry sank into his blankets, eyes as wide as coins as it all sunk in. In the end, he would have had to leave Yusuke anyway, wouldn't he? Go their separate ways? He was a demon lord after all, and Kurama and Hiei were quite the pair when it came to thievery. So why did it hurt so bad to know this? That they had made friends with him even when they knew all along the would have to leave him behind?

                "Harry, I really am sorry," Yusuke whispered.  

                Harry didn't care that Illiani's tail was wrapped around him, nor did he care that the dragon's massive claws stroked him comfortingly, the hot breath warming him. No matter how the dragon tried, Harry knew his gut would be frozen forever inside. He didn't want them to come, but they did. The tears sprang up and he sank into Illiani's palm, letting the pain wash over him. Finally excepting the fact that maybe, just maybe Yusuke had never meant to be friends, but had only been using him. He hadn't said it out loud, but underneath it, that's what he got. 

                Gohaki turned and watched as the storm outside increased in strength, as if the human boy's broken heart gave it more power. The cave was deathly quiet then, save for the pitiful sobbing of a lonely boy. 

*~o0o~*

                "This is not how I would have done that," Kistrono informed Sheque. 

                Sheque looked down upon the scene, biting her lip. "Fisron, do we really have to do this? Do we really have to split them up just because the Elders say the two cannot mix? Look at him. I cannot let him face Cormahs like this!"

                Fisron shook his head, "I can do nothing, and you know that. Besides, you know as well as I do the Fates did not intertwine their fates. Soon enough, they would have parted." 

                "But why?" Sheque asked in a choked voice. 

                Kistrono sighed, "It may be for the better. This is only the first of many tests they will have to endure to defeat Cormahs. She sent the Elementals, and they survived. But with the Elder's law now taking effect…things just got harder." 

                The three gods watched, sadness pulling at their hearts, as Harry's heart tore to pieces. 

*~o0o~*

*Sobbing* Why? Why am I so cruel? Oh, why me?! Anyway, I will update as soon as I can, k? See you soon!

~ Blaque Midnyte  
  



	18. Loneliness

Right, well, things are obviously looking up if I get a chapter up a lot faster then I have in awhile. And I know I tortured poor Harry, but as one review said – no fun if you don't torture at least one main character. Where's the fun if letting them being happy all the time? None. Anyway, moving on. Have fun! 

AGAIN: NOT A YAOI FIC

Loneliness 

Undine slipped into the cave where the others rested, a basket clamped in her jaws – a gift from Dumbeldore. The old man knew exactly where his students, assistant teacher, and the hobo (which was what Undine considered Shishi at the moment) were. Not a surprise. He had meant Undine in her liar as she had left the night before, promising there was no rush to get the child and demons back, leaving a breakfast basket for them. Undine had given him her thanks, certain he would cover for their guests till they could return them. Certainly, one of them was in no condition to return to classes. 

                She deposited the basket and floated up to wrap herself around a stalactite, peering over the slumbering dragons. Her eyes filled with pity when she found Illiani and Harry. Illiani had been voted, in dragon speech of course, to care for Harry that night. The dragon, just slightly under Cyen in age, had practice in caring for children, and thus his fussing for the previous night was explained. He was curled in a corner, face hidden by his tail, and resting against his cheek was Harry, wrapped in a blanket from Undine's lair. The boy had cried himself to sleep, saying nothing, just letting the tear coming. Illiani had frozen them where they fell, and now the ground was covering in a small pile of tear shaped, never melting ice jewels. 

                She focused on Sulfurous, Hiei buried in the fur of his mane of his head. The Chinese bred dragon was fond of the boy, but then again he had a debt to him, as Hiei did to him, so perhaps it was not so odd that Sulfurous felt protective of him. Cupped within the curve of a folded wing, Yusuke slept next to Cyen. The silver dragon had comforted Yusuke that night as well, for though the demon lord did not cry, all of them could tell he had never wished this, and he was being torn apart by having to admit, for to admit something was to make it real in your mind. As for Elecstrignecto, he had cared for Karasu and Shishi, both curled in corners of his wings. The green had merely taken those who came to him, and the two demons had separated themselves from the others, though Undine failed to see why. 

                She shook her head. She would never understand them, and thus she had retreated to her own lair for the night. That, and she had such a slipper hide she wasn't much use in the way of a pillow. Her gaze finally came to rest on Gohaki, the one other dragon who was awake, and she had to restrain herself from bursting into open laughter. The dragon grinned broadly, for he was not in dragon form, but his elfish one. 

                Gohaki was the one humorous dragon among them, and a joke he was always ready to pull. Undine was not surprised Kurama had chosen him for comfort that night, seeing as the two shared in the same element, but perhaps it was not the wisest choice for the embarrassment that might soon follow. And so, the funny thing about the whole scene was that Gohaki, in his _male _elfish form, had a slumbering red headed Karasu clutched against his chest, a blanket over them both (for Gohaki could not stand cold, just as a human couldn't, in any other form then his dragon). 

                _Are the others awakening?_ He asked in another form of dragon speech. 

                _No, but they will soon_, Undine replied in the same way. _The sun will soon crest the mountains, and you know that once one of the two old badgers is up, we're all up. _

_                The old badger might stay asleep longer if two young pups would keep it down!_ Undine winced sheepishly as Cyen's face came level with hers, glaring balefully at her. He wasn't a morning person, and Undine greatly regretted waking him. Yusuke was smirking in the crook of the dragon's wing and Undine scowled mockingly back. 

                _What is that racket? _Illiani raised his pretty head, glaring at them. Harry remained asleep, Illiani's tail supporting him where his cheek had once been. 

                _It is rude to awaken someone from their slumber, _commented Sulfurous, Hiei glaring death at Undine and Gohaki from atop the Chinese's head. 

                _Indeed, and insulting your elders is worse,_ Elecstrignecto fixed Undine with a scorning look and gently pocked Karasu and Shishi so that they too were awake with the rest. 

                _Sorry! Just, Gohaki was wondering when you would wake, _Undine said quickly, trying to redeem herself and Gohaki.

                "Can you talk normally?" Hiei requested. "It's rather rude to leave someone out of the conversation." 

                Sulfurous chuckled and pointed to the elf formed Gohaki, who had a dragonish grin on his face when the four other demons caught onto the joke. "Is Harry awake?" Sulfurous asked Illiani.

                The ice dragon turned and peered at his charged before nodding. Gently, he wrapped the boy in his tail and lifted him so he rested on his head, facing Gohaki, waiting for the moment when Kurama would awake…to a surprise unrequited. However, he looked blankly at the scene. Yusuke frowned and turned his attention back to Gohaki.

                "Enough," Undine hissed after five minutes. "He sleeps like a rock!" With that said she squirted water into the air, the droplets sprinkling on Kurama's face, making the fox shake his head in confusion for a moment. 

                "Morning sleepy head," Gohaki said in a low voice next to the red head's ear.

                Kurama turned sleepily towards Gohaki's face, and when comprehension dawned on where he was sleeping, his face turned about as a red as his hair. Instantly, the cavern shook with laughter from everyone, save Harry. Kurama hastily backed away, only to turn deeper red as the elf morphed back into the dragon form Gohaki.

                "You are to easy fox," Gohaki chuckled. 

                "Not funny!" Kurama howled at him, but the dragon merely chuckled again, ruffling the fox's hair with his tail. 

                Undine suddenly remembered the basket and grabbed it, throwing it to Yusuke without a second thought. "It's from Dumbeldore. He gave it to me last night. Breakfast, I believe." 

                The mortals slid down from the dragons and gathered around Yusuke and the basket (Harry being deposited there by Illiani). Inside were pieces of toast, jam and…eggs, bacon, pancakes, and porridge? They shrugged. It was Hogwarts. Did they really expect anything else? 

                They set to it eagerly while the dragons conversed in their own language (this time in the mind). Undine slipped out and returned some time later with a large bundle, depositing it over the heads of Karasu, Shishi, and Yusuke. By that time, the basket had been emptied and Harry returned to Illiani, cold and distant as ever. 

                "Well, time to go then," Elecstrignecto informed them while the three demons tried to find their ways out of the pile dumped on their heads. 

                "Go?" Kurama asked.

                "Yes. We have to return you to Hogwarts," Cyen told him. He moved over and sorted the three out demons out of the pile and the handing everyone one of the large blankets. "You will need those. It will be cold the way we fly. We need to take a northern route back to the castle in order to avoid being seen. And this time thunderclouds and waterways cannot shield us." 

                "But it won't be that long, will it?" Hiei argued.

                "Oh, it will," Sulfurous assured him. "Last time we flew as the crow did, and Undine swam as the fish would – straight. We cannot this time, and we will need to fly high. It will take many hours, maybe a day, to get you back."

                "How far away are we from the castle?" Yusuke demanded.

                "You're nowhere near it," Illiani commented. "This is Cyen's liar at the bottom of the Sicilon Mountains, which are the main feature on a remote island off the coast of northern Africa." 

                "Africa?" Yusuke hollered. 

                Cyen nodded, "Yes. I could have used the one in England, but it was far too obvious. This seemed a better choice."

                Sulfurous, Cyen, and Illiani were the chosen dragons to carry passengers (Undine refused, Elecstrignecto would just stand out like a sore thumb, and Gohaki had matters to attend to in Brazil that need immediate attention). And so, the six split up. Cyen took Karasu and Shishi, Sulfurous Hiei and Kurama, and Illiani Harry and Yusuke. 

                Yusuke sat behind Harry, the two sharing one of the blankets Undine had delivered. Harry remained cold and rigid against Yusuke, and the demon lord didn't blame him. He didn't say anything as they took off and began to gain altitude, and neither did Harry.  It was silent the whole trip, and this time, Harry didn't make a sound as his tears made the level of the sea below them rise.

*~o0o~*

                Sheque looked down with sympathy as they flew over the seas, going wide around islands and boats. Her hand was over her heart, a pain pulsating with it as she watched Harry suffer. It wasn't fair! Why did he have to suffer because of some stupid law?

                "Because, dear Sheque, a combination of the two magicks is devastating. This was proven long before this war," Dreali's voice commented as the elder goddess appeared, clear, crystal tresses pooling at her feet.

                "But still! Cannot we bend it?" Sheque asked. "This is the first time this has happened in so long! And if they hate each other, what chance do they have?" 

                Dreali considered her words. She shook her head, "They must worry about that. We must win this without mixing them."

                "But he already knows spirit magic! We cannot change what has been done!" Sheque countered. "Surely, just this once, you will let them slip through the law!" 

                Dreali frowned, "I cannot! If I did, then what of the next time this happens?"

                "But you have let them slip through thus far," Sheque pointed out. "So why do this now?"

                "Excuse me?" Dreali growled.

                "He went to Japan! He learned spirit magic! He knows of its existence! That is forbidden in the law, but not once have you struck him down! Why now?" Sheque screamed.

                Dreali looked at her in a confused way, then her face cleared and she chuckled. "Because now, dear Sheque, more then ever, we must know they can come through anything, together."

                "What?" Sheque asked, confused.

                Dreali smiled at the younger goddess, "What will you do Sheque? Yes, I have let them slip through the law thus far, but what does that really mean to you? As Queen of Wand Magic, why do you take such an interest in one boy?"

                Sheque blinked, "The fates spared him for a purpose, just as requested."

                "And why him? Why not some other one?" Dreali asked. 

                Suddenly, Sheque knew why and her face burned with embarrassment. Choosing Harry and Yusuke…it had all been part of her plan to undo the law that had been set down. "Have I succeeded then?" she asked Dreali.

                "Perhaps," Dreali responded with a twinkle in her eye. "Who knows? Humans can change, so why not gods?"

                "Why won't you tell me?" Sheque demanded, rounding on the elder goddess. "I cannot do this! It pains me just to leave him there!"

                "Then do something about it," Dreali shrugged. 

                "What? Do something about it? You mean…interact directly?" Sheque asked, puzzled.

                Dreali again shrugged. "As I said, humans can change. Why not gods?" 

                Sheque's lips split into a smile as Dreali's meaning sunk in. Dreali nodded and faded, leaving Sheque to work things out in her mind. She knew now why the law had been laid. Why it had all turned out this way. 

                She looked down upon the traveling dragons and smile, placing a finger on Harry. "Be strong, little one," she whispered. "Only a little longer now." She turned away from the image and turned to the sky above her. "As for you Cormahs, this war isn't over! I refuse to loose!" With that she faded from the glade, her defiant cry ringing through it even when she had completely left.

*~o0o~*

                Harry sat alone in the dorm, curled upon on his bed, devoid of emotions, his eyes dry from shedding his last tears into the sea earlier. The dragons had left them at the edge of the Forbidden Forest (the end farthest from the castle), where Dumbeldore awaited them. He had led them back through the woods and to the castle, where they had diverged to their towers. Hedwig had greeted him heartily, but Harry had ignored her and slipped into bed and remained there. Everyone was at classes, so he was alone. Yusuke and Hiei were with Shishi in Dumbledore's office, explaining what they had learned from the dragons. 

                "Why so long a face?" a gentle voice asked.

                Harry sat bolt up right, looking for the owner of the voice. "Who's there?" he asked.

                "A friend," the voice said.

                "I don't have friends," Harry growled.

                As the last word faded from his lips a young woman appeared, with hair of every changing colors and robes of ebony. Her face was smooth, as if carved of alabaster stone, with eyes the switched between red and black as she talked, her shiny red lips spread in a sympathetic, motherly smile. 

                "Yes, you do," she said.

                "Who are you?" Harry demanded again.

                The woman moved closer and took a seat on the edge of his bed near his feet, "I am Sheque."

                "Sheque?" Harry gasped. That was the goddess the dragons had mentioned the other night. 

                "That's right," she said. "And I am here to tell you, you are not alone. You must be strong."

                "How? Yusuke and the others betrayed me!" Harry spat. 

                "Have they now?" Sheque asked him. "In what way?" 

                "They became my friends, even when they knew we would be torn apart! They know my past! They know how dear they were to me as my friends! They used me!" Harry screamed, his throat scratchy as the words rushed forth. 

                "If they are your friends, would this not pain them too?" Sheque asked him quietly.

                Harry had a retort ready on his lips, but not for that question. He stared at the goddess, her eyes ever switching and hair a myriad of imaginable and unimaginable colors. What _did_ they feel? He had not seen them cry, but Yusuke had sounded pained when he said sorry. Maybe had had meant it.

                He started as cool lips pressed themselves to his forehead. "Think on what I said. And, even if you still believe they are not your friends, know that I am," she told him. With that, she turned and placed a small amulet, a wand with a bat wing and an angel wing extending from it surrounded by runes of all cultures, on his table. She smiled softly and vanished, leaving him alone once more.

                Though this time, he wasn't in so much pain.

*~* 

Oh, yay, everyone is happy again….anyway, updating soon, I promise!

~Blaque Mindyte 


	19. Notice: REVISION

To everyone: This fic is only up because I want to see which people like better – this or my new version of this _Stars of the Zodiac. _

And another thing: my computer crashed so I had to redo everything! It may take awhile, but I am working on it. Thank you for your patience. Also, I will be on vacation for 2 weeks, but there will be a computer, so I will try and update. Thank you. 

~ Blaque Midnyte


End file.
